Movie, relaxation at Mattituck shelter

A small group of people watched a movie at the Southold Town Senior Services building in Mattituck Monday afternoon, and Karen McLaughlin — who spent the past 48 hours in the building while it was serving as a special shelter — was finally getting a chance to relax.

For McLaughlin, the Town director of Human Services, the weekend had been a mixture of careful planning and improvising.

The planning consisted of making sure every one of the 125 people on her call list — because they might require help — was contacted. The improvising included having a ham radio operator on site, which came into play when a man from New Jersey called to say he couldn’t find his 94-year-old mother. The radio operator located the woman.

“You learn something new in every emergency,” McLaughlin said.