Portsmouth Residents Ready for Sandy

Just hours before Hurricane Sandy is expected to hit the Portsmouth area with 60 mile per hour winds, several Portsmouth area residents and business owners were taking the coming storm in stride.

At Kaffee Vonsolln on Daniel Street, owner Yalcin Kaya said he planned to remain open on Monday until 5:30 p.m. when he normally closes. After surviving Tropical Storm Irene, Snowtober and the region's last winter storm in March, Kaya said he was one of the few downtown businesses that stayed open throughout and he wants to maintain his streak.

At Breaking New Grounds, employees were a little less certain how long they would stay open on Monday. Hurricane Sandy "has made Portsmouth a ghost town today," said one employee.

Meanwhile over at the Prescott Park pier, John Sobel of Portsmouth was walking his labrador retriever Romeo and noticed the Benjamin Bailey tugboat was gone. Riverside Marine & Pickering crews were able to fully salvage the vessel that sank into the Piscataqua River last week. Clean Harbor crews were busy securiing the oil booms they had placed in the river to soak up the several gallons of diesel fuel from the tugboat after it was freed from underneath a Memorial Bridge barge on Saturday afternoon.

Archer Western Contractors crews also moved the Memorial Bridge barges upriver to the New Hampshire State Pier and disassembled their cranes ahead of Hurricane Sandy, according to Carol Morris, an Archer Western Contractors spokesperson.

The Gundalow Piscataqua was also fully secured at the Prescott Park pier on Monday morning ahead of the storm. Phil Geraci, a Gundalow volunteer, said he and other volunteers added extra lines, a second anchor, removed the sail and lowered the mast to help the Piscataqua ride out the storm. It went out for its final two public sails on Sunday afternoon.

Several Portsmouth area boat owners also removed their vessels from the Prescott Park marina as well as Great Bay Marine in Newington, the Kittery Yacht Club and the Wentworth by the Sea Marina, both in New Castle.

At City Hall, city employees said all city offices, the Portsmouth Public Library and the Connie Bean Recreation Center and Spinnaker Point Recreation Center would close at 4 p.m. on Monday instead of 6 p.m. The Portsmouth Indoor Pool was set to close at 1 p.m. All city offices and facilities were reopen on Tuesday if power is available. Portsmouth Schools were also closed on Monday and Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen DuBois announced on Saturday the city had rescheduled trick or treating to Saturday, Nov. 3., from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

City officials also announced they would open the Emergency Operations Center at Fire Station 2 at 3 p.m. and that any city residents in need of shelter can go to the North Hampton School beginning at 12 noon.