Calm Cape Codders ready for nor’easter
WELLFLEET — People are bracing for the brunt of Tropical Storm Jose on Cape Cod and the islands, where the storm’s impact will be strongest today.
The National Weather Service said Jose — downgraded from a hurricane last night — will be like a nor’easter, with peak wind gusts of 55 to 60 mph on Nantucket and 45 to 55 mph on Cape Cod and the Vineyard.
Bob Gross, 75, double-tied his 26-foot Downeaster yesterday and filled up two gasoline cans for the generator in his Wellfleet home in case he loses power.
“Forty to 50 mph winds — around here, that’s what we call a Cape Cod breeze,” said Gross, the town’s assistant harbor master, “but we just want to be prepared, just in case.”
Even kitesurfer Eric Gustafson, who rode the waves yesterday at Coast Guard Beach in Eastham, said he might head to Duxbury instead today, where the wind and waves might be less severe.
“Tomorrow will be something to be much more careful about,” said Gustafson, 57, of Wellfleet. “If it’s blowing more than 40 knots, it’s kind of more like survival.”
Kevin Morley, a spokesman for the Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee, said a multi-agency coordination center will open at 8 a.m. today to monitor the storm and advised people to tie down loose objects in their yards.
Steamship Authority ferry service for the Vineyard and Nantucket will operate on a trip-by-trip basis today, according to the authority’s website, and trips to and from Oak Bluffs will be diverted to Vineyard Haven through tomorrow.