Coast Guard preps for Sandy

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- With the threat of Sandy the Coast Guard station in New Haven is reminding people to protect their boats and protect their property now.

Officials tell News 8 the chance to protect your property ends Sunday when severe weather is expected to start moving through.

The sounds of anticipation. It's an interesting spectacle on the Long Island Sound, considering miles of shoreline are placid perfection right now.

People in Connecticut know better.

"I got hammered, it just started looking good again, and this thing is coming up," said Thomas Carboni, of Milford.

"I didn't think there would be this many boats down here, everybody is worried about this hurricane coming," said Al Day, Milford boater.

The United States Coast Guard has two jobs they are currently wading through right now, one is to prepare others for the hurricane.

"We can't get complacent, the fact we've had two major storms in the past two years, people can't start thinking, yeah been there done that, we understand what this is going to look like," said Lt. Jeff Jannaro, United States Coast Guard.

The other is to prepare themselves for the hurricane.

"In some cases we take some of our boats, put them in storage, up here on land in a boat bay, in other cases we move the boats that remain in the water to more secure facilities," Lt. Jannaro said.

The Coast Guard doesn't need reminding that people should take storms seriously, but even at the base in New Haven they have their own reminder of how dangerous storms can be. One of their docks was destroyed by Tropical Storm Irene.

The fervor, the fever of anticipation is likely to continue right up to the first rain drop. Then the real spectacle begins.

"He lives in a flood zone, he got flooded in Irene, bad, so he's worried, he lives on Point Beach," Day said.