CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be stationed at Westover Air Reserve Base in preparation for Hurricane Lee as it approaches the coast of New England.

FEMA equipment will be arriving at the Chicopee base this week. Approximately 40 tractor trailers loaded with water, tarps, food and other emergency supplies will be stored at the base. This is the second time in the last two years FEMA has used Westover as an incident staging base. The last time was in September 2021 for Hurricane Henri.

“FEMA staging here for possible relief operation underscores the versatility and viability of Westover Air Reserve Base,” said Robert Perreault, 439^th Airlift Wing Emergency Management Director. “We have a long and successful history of partnering with the agency for weather-related events, and we are proud to be instrumental a collaborative approach for post-storm operations.”

FEMA and Westover have worked together over the last eight years for weather-related relief operations.

Track Hurricane Lee

Hurricane Lee is expected to grow in size and keep traveling north as it slowly loses strength in cooler waters. It is forecast to approach the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada on Friday and Saturday and remain a “large and dangerous hurricane,” according to the National Hurricane Center.

A hurricane watch was issued from Stonington, Maine to the U.S.-Canadian border. A tropical storm watch was issued for a large swath of coastal New England from Watch Hill, Rhode Island to Stonington, Maine, including Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. A storm surge watch was issued for Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket.

Hurricane-force winds extended up to 105 miles from Lee’s center, and tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 290 miles, the center reported. It warned of wind, rain and coastal flooding for parts of New England and Atlantic Canada.