WMECo and FEMA prepare for Hurricane Sandy

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - “I was out of power. I was out of heat for seven days,” Anne Keeney of Longmeadow said as she recalled what happened last year.

In fact, it's a memory that many people would rather forget.

Last year during the October snowstorm, thousands of western Massachusetts residents lost power for about a week.

Keeney said “I'm just scared to death of this storm because I didn't think I would survive the last one.”

Frank Poirot, Spokesperson for Western Massachusetts Electric Company, says this year they are better prepared.

They've asked independent contractors to be ready just in case they need extra help, and they've also figured out why so many people lost power last year.

Poirot said, “Trees and limbs caused about 90% of our outages over the past couple of storms. We've invested about $4 million in trimming trees and another about $1.5 million in hazard trees.”

WMECo is not the only company preparing the region for Sandy. Saturday morning, the Federal Emergency Management Agency arrived in western Massachusetts, and throughout the weekend, 77 tractor-trailers carrying bottled water, food and generators will arrive in Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee.

Command Chief Michael Thorpe told 22News “We also have the capability with our C-5 fleet to disperse these resources as needed through the East Coast, the way the hurricane is projected right now. Basically we have it as the hut and the focal point here.”

Westover and FEMA have been working together for the last three years. They have an emergency plan in place for all of New England.