Brand new Stonington selectman finds himself in charge of town’s storm response.

First selectman on vacation in Panama

It can be a mayor or governor’s worst nightmare — he or she goes on vacation and a blizzard or hurricane hits their community.

Many remember 1973, when then-Connecticut Gov. Thomas Meskill did not return from a skiing trip after an ice storm blasted the state. And more recently, N.J. Gov. Chris Christie was criticized in 2010 for staying on vacation in Disney World as a blizzard hammered his state and his lieutenant governor was on vacation in Mexico.

Thursday’s blizzard saw Stonington First Selectman Rob Simmons in Panama on a planned vacation with his wife, leaving new Selectman John Prue in charge of the town’s storm response.

Simmons, who has been on vacation with his wife since Dec. 29, before the storm was forecast, and is slated to return home Monday, sent out the following email on Thursday morning: “I have been in touch with Acting First Selectman John Prue and am confident that he has taken all necessary steps to prepare for the upcoming snow storm. The Stonington team will do well during my temporary absence while traveling out of the country.”

Before Simmons departed, the Board of Selectmen designated Prue, a Republican, as acting first selectman while Simmons was away.

“Rob had impeccable timing on this,” Prue joked about Simmons, who was kayaking and hiking in 80-degree temperatures on Thursday.

Prue said Simmons had called him Thursday morning from the coastal community of Puerto Jimenez, Panama, to check on the storm preparations.

“My role is to make sure the professionals we have who handle these issues day in and day out have the resources they need and that there is good communications among our departments,” Prue said when asked about having to lead the town through a major storm.

He said that opening the town’s Emergency Operations Center at 6 a.m. Thursday allowed the town to have all its decision makers in one room in case there was a problem they would have to address.

“They can just walk across the room and talk to the people they need,” he said.

Prue said he was ready to open the emergency shelter at the high school if there are a large number of power outages in town.