Chelmsford Gets Ready for Hurricane Irene

Whether is an excuse to party or a reason to stress, Chelmsfordians are getting ready for the first significant hurricane in recent years.

Some, such as resident , are planning parties for the storm. Bush says it's a way to keep entertained with family and friends - and a way to stay safe, too.

"We are going to have food, water, games, fun, and a place for everyone to get together and stay safe too," she said.

Bush has plenty of tricks up her sleeve to keep her kids entertained.

"We have dominoes, Cranium, cards, Scattegories, Banannagrams, and many other board games in the event the power goes out," she said.

But Bush, her kids and her friends also deal with medical issues - and it'll be helpful for all of them to be together in case the weather is bad.

"We have a lot of people with medical issues - six of us - who will definitely benefit from being with other people in the event they need help ... plus it helps that I have about eight bags of IV fluids and the setups if necessary," she said. "Always good to be prepared. We'll watch movies, play the Wii, kids will play their DS games if the power stays on."

But for Donna Parlee of , the threat of a hurricane can mean ruined crops and lost money.

"We will be picking everything that is even close to ripe in case we do get flooding," she said. "We keep it in baskets in the barn and then we have a cooler we put stuff in. If we pick green tomatoes now they'll be ripe by next Thursday. There is a shelf life there."

Parlee's husband Henry is an electrician and will be checking generators today to make sure they work, she said. The Parlees have five generators.

"I've taken down my cabana so it won't blow away, all the windows in the barns will be closed ... the animals will kept inside, the chickens and horses. They get scared," she said.

Parlee said the Irene also threatens the corn.

"We are afraid if we have high winds, it'll knock over all the corn and we'll have crop circles," she said. "There's always money loss when we (have bad weather). We had hail last Friday and we were worried the hail will ping all the vegetables we have and make them look uglier than they already are ... our tomatoes taste awesome but don't look pretty," she said.

Longtime Chelmsford resident Fran McDougall said she's not really worried about Irene.

"It could be bad but you can't worry about things that mother nature produces," she said. "It's just (worrisome) how long you go without power ... I won't go running to the store to stock up. I have plenty of bottled water at home.

But McDougall does remember Hurricane Carol in 1954, and how destructive that was.

"I had just graduated from high school and I was working at what was once an amusement park in Newton, at the gate," she said. "I was there for the hurricane and I had to drive home and I almost couldn't get home (because) there were so many trees across the road. I didn't realize the whole time I was at work the amount of damage that was being created by that storm."

Town Manager Paul Cohen said the town is preparing for damage that could come from high winds.

"The expected storm path should not result in any significant flooding," she said. "We should be on the wind side of the storm.  Therefore, the Ttwn will staff extra police, fire, and DPW personnel during the storm to keep the roads clear and to respond to emergencies."

The town's emergency management team is meeting this afternoon to continue preparations, said Cohen, and the town will open an emergency shelter if necessary.