Springfield making emergency plans for Sandy

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Springfield's emergency response leaders met Sunday night to further discuss their plan of action when it comes to dealing with Hurricane Sandy .

Schools in the city, as well as across western Massachusetts are closed, as are many municipal offices in anticipation of Sandy's strong winds.

The city's Deputy Fire Chief, Glenn Guyer, told 22News that residents should be prepared. He encourages everyone to go over their supply kits at home. Make sure that you have:

• Batteries
• Radios
• Canned foods
• Other emergency supplies

There are also things that you can do to help minimize damage. Clearing the leaves out of the storm drains and gutters around your home may help prevent flooding and problems.

As power outages are expected throughout our area, residents are being cautioned not to go near any downed wires and treat any and all downed wires as if they were high-voltage lines.

If you would like to report power lines down in your area, you can certainly report it by calling the 3-1-1 number. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCY, you are asked to NOT call 9-1-1; emergency dispatchers will have enough calls to handle.

As far as shelters go, Springfield has not yet released an official list of shelters. That is because at this point in time, it's unsure whether or not they'll be needed. It's hard to determine where the troubled areas will be this early in the game.

Emergency managers here in Hampden County also told 22News that before a location is designated as a shelter, they have to make sure it is not damaged.

The city's emergency managers will be meeting again Monday morning at 9:00 to continue to go over a plan of action.