Jason Graziadei •
Nantucket’s public safety authorities and marine officials are preparing for the potential impacts of Hurricane Lee, which is expected to brush Nantucket and Cape Cod on Friday and Saturday as it marches north toward Nova Scotia.
While the storm’s track appears to be taking it east of the island, Nantucket Harbormaster Sheila Lucey said residents and the boating community should prepare for high winds and huge surf as the storm passes by. The Steamship Authority issued its own advisory on Tuesday, warning that service disruptions could begin Friday evening and extend through Sunday morning due to the storm.
A statement from the National Weather Service issued Tuesday warned of dangerous rip currents from Hurricane Lee as it churned northwest of the Caribbean.
The Children’s Beach boat ramp was a beehive of activity on Tuesday as boat owners hauled their vessels throughout the day in advance of the storm.
Lucey also requested that all dinghies be removed from the dinghy dock at the town pier before Friday.
“I’m thinking we’re going to have very strong northeast winds and I anticipate that we’re going to be asking people to stay out of the water,” Lucey said Tuesday. “Most likely we’ll be looking to ask people to get off the floating dock as well, but I’m not making that call yet. We’ll make that call (Wednesday). Right now there are so many conflicting reports (on the storm’s track) that it’s hard to know for sure. The boat ramp has been slammed, which is great, and there have been some moorings set in Polpis too. Everyone is doing what they think is right.”
Coast Guard Station Brant Point was also preparing for the impacts of the passing storm.
“We’re going through our plans and checklists, and we’ll be pulling the smaller boats probably on Thursday to make sure they’re protected so we can respond if we need to,” said Station Brant Point master chief Lance Wiser. “We’re keeping in touch with the marine community, the sector in Woods Hole, and obviously hurricanes are unpredictable and you really don’t know. Sometimes it won’t be that bad but you get a massive storm surge, or you’ll get a lot of wind and no storm surge. I’ve served most of my career in the Caribbean, in Florida, and in Charleston, so it’s nothing new, but it’s a different area. We’re definitely monitoring the situation and I know the boat ramp has been busy with people pulling boats out. I’ve been in touch with the Harbormaster and the rest of the marine community about their plans.”
