The city didn't take any chances with Hurricane Earl, but as of 11 a.m. Friday, the tropical storm watch for coastal Fairfield County had been canceled with Hurricane Earl off the coast of Maryland, moving up the East Coast. The Category 1 storm was predicted to bring rain to Connecticut by the afternoon and into the evening. Winds of 10 to 20 mph are possible. But the holiday weekend won't be ruined. Saturday, Sunday and Monday are predicted to be sunny and breezy with high temperatures in the 70s.

Mayor Richard Moccia had discussed preparations with city department heads. The biggest concern, he said, was coordination among the police, fire and DPW as well as with Connecticut Light & Power. "If we have power lines go down, CL&P needs to notify the others so we can set up detours and alternate routes."As of

Another major issue is keeping the public notified of road blockages, power outages and flooding. Moccia said the city would use the Notify Norwalk reverse 911 system. "We can contact the 30,000 homes that are signed up in 45 minutes to an hour," he said. "And we can also send notifications to subsets. For instance, if we expect flooding from high tides, we can target the low-lying areas like East Norwalk and Rowayton."

The mayor urged resident to go to the city website and click on the Emergency Management link, which provides advice for preparing for a storm. "Most of it is just common sense," he said. "Like move your car to higher ground if you live where it floods. You'd be surprised how many people don't do that."