Trentonians Say We Need Better Emergency Plan

TRENTON-- Island residents evacuated their homes early Thursday morning  in direct response to flooding and heavy rain late Wednesday night. Anwar's Reflections-- a Trentonian affiliate-- was on hand to hear from Island residents. This evacuation is the second evacuation in as little as three weeks. Just two weeks ago, the Island was also evacuated in response to Hurricane Irene.

During interviews, citizen after citizen expressed deep concerns regarding the amount of time they were given to vacate their Island properties. These residents thought they should have been alerted sooner.

Island resident, Taylor Connelly, said that she and her fiance had been awakened by sirens and police officers speaking on  loud speakers early Thursday morning. She made note of how the city could have alerted citizens about evacuating sooner than they did. She said, "I felt it was short notice because there were a lot of elderly people, its hard if they're handicapped". Another person that went by the name of Johnson said he was at work when the police department evacuated the Island. He also made it a point to mention how city officials could do a better job of informing citizens sooner in the event something like this should happen in the future. He and another city man by the name of Richardson made the suggestion that the city of Trenton should create a wall to prevent Island flooding in the future.

 Trenton mayor Tony Mack held a press conference at a nearby firehouse in the city's West Ward Thursday afternoon. He and other city officials said despite citizens concerns that the administration did not adequately prepare for the flooding, they were doing everything in their power to address the heavy rain the Island experienced.

Mayor Mack said city residents can call a central phone number [(609) 989-4200] if they have any concerns. He also made it a point to say that there would be regular updates posted online regarding the flooding.