SAUGUS – There will be no onions and peppers and sausages on the grill in front of Emergency Management during Founder’s Day Saturday because the head chef is still south.Director Paul Penachio and Deputy Director Fritz White were deployed along with the state’s Urban Search and Rescue Team for Atlanta last weekend. The team, based out of Beverly, was sent along with five others from across the country to stand on alert in case their services were needed following Hurricane Gustav. While the men ended up sitting out that dance they were kept close pending the arrival of two, possibly three other hurricanes.Revere Fire Chief Eugene Dougherty, public information officer for the team, said the crew would be kept on hand in case Hurricane Hanna took a turn for the worse.Thursday Chris Penachio said her husband, Paul, along with White and the rest of the team were being moved to Virginia to see how Hurricane Ike played out.Hanna has been knocked back to tropical storm status but could hit the coast of North Carolina Saturday. The AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center reports that Tropical Storm Hanna will become a hurricane before reaching the Southeast coast today.Hurricane Ike exploded into a category 4 hurricane Wednesday with 145 mile-per-hour winds and could hit the Bahamas by the weekend. Josephine is still off in the distance but could cause problems if she keeps building steam.Chris Penachio said the whole business of gauging the storms and being on alert to help where needed could keep the team hopping indefinitely.”I have no idea when he’ll be home,” she said. “They could be sent back south after this. It’s just a guessing game at this point.”The Emergency Management building, however, will be open during Founder’s Day. The doors will open for tours and volunteers will be enlisting other residents to volunteer their service as well.
