Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency today ahead of the expected impact of Hurricane Irene this Sunday night.

500 members of the Massachusetts National Guard were activated today with a mobilization of 2,000 more to come tomorrow.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) suggests several steps in preparing for potential hurricane weather:

• Get an Emergency Supply Kit, which includes items like non-perishable food, water, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, extra flashlights and batteries.
• Make a Family Emergency Plan. Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to know how you will contact one another, how you will get back together and what you will do in case of an emergency.

For local information on what your town is doing, see below.

Marion: Town Administrator Paul Dawson said that the utility companies had been coordinating with the town to identify the most critical areas and facilities in the event of widespread power outages.

The town's emergency shelter is at Sippican School would be ready and is pet-friendly.

Marion residents can check the town's website, marionma.gov, for more local preparedness tips and updates.

Mattapoisett: The Town of Mattapoisett has put out an emergency response timeline for town residents. It can be downloaded as a PDF below. The Mattapoisett Fire Department also has several pages of disaster preparedness tips that can be seen here.

The town's shelter is Old Rochester Regional High School and will allow pets. Town Administrator Michael Gagne advises owners to bring an adequate amount of food as well as leashes and carriers for pets.

A video from the Town Administrator and Police Chief Mary Lyons can be seen here.

Rochester: The Rochester emergency shelter is Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School. The town's secondary shelter in the event that one is full is the Council on Aging. The Council on Aging will also open if power is lost and will accomodate seniors who have lost power during the storm.

Residents will be notified of the shelters being open via the CodeRED reverse-911 system.

Sippican Week will continue to update this page as the situation develops.