Shoreline prepares for Earl

Stonington, Conn. (WTNH) - At Groton-New London Airport, they're worried about water and wind. We're told from folks at Lanmar Aviation that this airfield does sometimes flood and of course with the planes, wind is always a dangerous factor.

Usually owners can decide to tie down their planes or put them in a hangar, but with what is expected when hurricane Earl lands on Friday, Lanmar Aviation is not taking any chances outside.

"With these types of winds it wouldn't be safe to leave them outdoors," said Jesse Edwards of Lamar Aviation.

Edwards has been busy filling up his hangars. More than fifty planes are already inside and more expected with hangar space running out at other airports.

"We're fielding a lot of calls from concerned aircraft owners all along the east coast," Edwards said.

Those who make their living on what can sometimes be an angry sea, pulled lobster pots so they wouldn't break lose in the storm surge.

"We pulled some of the ones that were in shallow water out of harms way," Mike Grimshaw, a lobsterman said. "But most of our stuff is out in deep soft bottom."

Grimshaw won't be able to get back out to get them until the storm passes.

"Sunday or Monday," Grimshaw said."

So this takes one day of fishing away from you?

"Yeah, a couple," Grimshaw said. "Probably once when it approaches and once when it goes away."

These lobster pots will be weathering the storm right up here on the dock. Five hundred of them had to be pulled from the waters.

At the Coast Guard Academy, this is a sight you usually don't see along the waterfront , empty slips. No boats to be found, and that's because more than seventy in the past few days have been pulled from the water.

A racing boat is one of the larger sailboats plucked from the Thames River in preparation for hurricane Earl's arrival on Friday.

"It's really important," said Allen Kruger of the Coast Guard Academy. "It's not like this is your personal equipment. This is taxpayer equipment and government owned property."

Kruger wants to remind folks the Coast Guard Academy is a training school not an operations facility. So cadets are learning how to respond, not actually responding. Thursday, though, a real life lesson is learned.

"This afternoon at 4 I think we're all coming down and lifting boats for a while, so we have to eat a big lunch," cadet Sam Ingham said.

The coast guard motto "sempre paratus," always ready.

"It's what we do, prepare and be prepared for the worst," Kruger said.

Mitchell College in New London is preparing for the worst by canceling classes. Students who have family nearby are encouraged to go home for the holiday weekend while those staying on campus hunker down.

At nearby Ocean Beach Park, workers plan to take down flags, take in trash cans and dismantle rides, which could turn dangerous in the high winds.

"Anything that flies has the potential of hitting one of the glass windows or can cause damage," said Mo Jordan of Ocean Beach Park. "So anything that flies is going to be batten down."

Right along the sea wall there you can see the high water mark and with the storm surge expected to be three to five feet above that, folks here at the Coast Guard Academy expect this lower area to be flooded.