Blizzard fallout: Some won't get power back for days

Written By The USA Links on Sunday, 10 February 2013 | 20:18

The region is just starting to get back on its feet after the deadly blizzard.

Planes, trains and automobiles slowly began moving Sunday as the Northeast powered back up after the weekend's brutal and historic snowstorm.

Power had returned to more than 300,000 people and businesses Sunday. That's almost half the number left cold and dark, most of them in Massachusetts, during the height of the blizzard that dumped up to 3 feet of snow.

Still, NStar, a utility for much of the state, said it does not expect to restore power to all its customers before Thursday night.

New York's major airports were operational Sunday, this after more than 6,600 flights were canceled in the region due to the storm. Even Boston's Logan International Airport was open for business.

Amtrak resumed limited service in the region Sunday. Major roads were being cleared. Most of New York's transit system was running. Boston's transit system, MBTA, began limited bus and subway service at 2 p.m. ET.

And the sun came out.

In Somerset, Mass., Mary Lewis, 48, was feeling some relief Sunday, her house again warm after almost 24 hours without power. She, her husband and teen daughter had spent hours trying to stay warm with the heat of a fireplace and hot chocolate from a gas grill. They finally had to abandon their home, taking shelter with a neighbor who never lost power.

Lewis' power was restored late Saturday. On Sunday she was was able to drive to the home of her parents, 45 minutes away, to help dig them out.

"It was a little stressful for awhile, but it's getting better," Lewis said. "At least we were prepared for it. We are resilient."

FULL COVERAGE: 'Nemo' blasts Northeast

STORY: Airline cancellations soar in blizzard

In Cambridge, Mass., about a dozen people were shoveling their cars out Sunday along a snowbound residential street. While main streets in Boston's metro area were clear, side streets still had lots of snow. An occasional vehicle crept along at about 10 mph.

Marie and Pierre Humblet were feeling ambitious. They were well-equipped, they said, with a coal shovel, a regular snow shovel and a dust pan.

"We are trying to be careful so we don't add snow to our neighbors' cars," said Marie Humblet, 69, who, with her husband, carried shovelfuls of snow across the street and dumped them. "It's hard because there's nowhere to put the snow," she said.

Much work remains before normalcy returns following the storm blamed for at least 11 U.S. deaths, including an 11-year-old Boston boy who was overcome by carbon monoxide in a running car that his father was digging out of a snowbank.

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  • Peter Bloom digs his car out of a parking lot at sunrise Feb. 10 in Portland, Maine. Residents are digging out after a blizzard dumped a record 31.9 inches of snow on the city.
  • People dig out their cars in Boston. A howling storm across the Northeast left the New York-to-Boston corridor shrouded in 1-3 feet of snow Feb. 9, stranding motorists on highways overnight and piling up drifts so high that some homeowners couldn't get their doors open.
  • A NASA Terra satellite image shows snow covering the northeastern U.S.
  • Eric Lessard heaves a load of snow over his car after it was blocked in by drifting snow in Portland, Maine.
  • A woman walks around a massive snowbank that runs down the middle of Commercial Street in Portland, Maine.
  • School buses are covered in snow in Hartford, Conn.
  • Snow begins to melt on the tops of cars parked at a dealership in Hartford, Conn.
  • Two-year-old Chase Diaz gets a ride with his father Charles down the hill in front of the Bunker Hill monument in the Charlestown section of Boston.
  • Harley, a Vizsla, displays his athleticism as his owners Darrin and Lorie Campbell clear their driveway in Dartmouth, Canada.
  • Sean McCullough, left, plays with his children Dean, Annie and Will in snowbanks in Copley Square in Boston.
  • A plow clears a path outside Poquonock Elementary School in Windsor, Conn.
  • Jared Joiner shovels out his car in the shadow of the Bunker Hill monument in Boston.
  • A man uses a snowblower around a statue of Nathan Hale outside the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Conn.
  • Bert Johnson takes a break while clearing snow from a bus-stop bench outside the apartment complex where he lives in Portland, Maine.
  • Jennifer Renz and her dog, Gus, run down East Third Street in South Boston on Feb. 10.
  • A man shovels his car out of the snow on M Street in South Boston.
  • The roads in the Seaport area of Boston are clear and open early Feb. 10, a day after a storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow in the area.
  • A trash can marks the cleared out parking spot of a resident on M Street in South Boston.
  • Jason Roche breaks through fresh snow on his snowboard on a hill in front of Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital in Worcester, Mass., on Feb. 9.
  • A snowboarder catches some air while taking advantage of a makeshift terrain park on Boston Common.
  • Andrew Stratis pushes his snowblower through deep snow as he tries to clear the sidewalk in front of his house on Holden Street in Worcester, Mass.
  • A boy pulls a sled through a snowy Prospect Park in Brooklyn the morning after a massive snowstorm in New York City. New Yorkers woke up to over 10 inches of snow Saturday morning while parts of New England received over 30 inches.
  • A couple and their dog walk past a large snow drift in the Old Port section of Portland, Maine.
  • Kayaks stand upright next to a store in downtown Hyannis, Mass., buried by drifting snow.
  • Aaron Powell digs out his car along McKinley Avenueon Feb. 9 after a snowstorm in Norwich, Conn.
  • Tony Colon uses a snowblower to clear his driveway Saturday in Derby, Conn., where residents face massive snow removal.
  • Priscilla Arena, who was rescued from her snow-trapped car in Farmingville, N.Y., on Saturday, reads letters she wrote while stuck in the snow. She wrote what she thought might be her last words to her husband and children.
  • Zai Nishimura catches air on a hill in Cummings Park, Saturday, in Stamford, Conn. A dumped at least 2 feet of snow throughout Connecticut, paralyzing much of the state.
  • Snow remains in Boston's Copley Square Saturday following a powerful blizzard.
  • From left, Worcester Polytechnic Institute freshmen Kyle Foster and Steven Como, both members of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, jump from the fraternity house porch roof into a steep snowbank on Wachusett Street in Worcester, Mass.
  • A parking meter pokes out of a snowbank during a blizzard in Portland, Maine.
  • Ice clings to Ken Anderson's eyebrows and mustache as he uses a snowblower Feb. 9 in Portland, Maine. A blizzard dumped more than 30 inches of snow, surpassing the previous snow record for Maine's largest city.
  • Snow coats the sand as members of the Coney Island Polar Bear club swim in Coney Island beach on Feb. 9.
  • Tom Nee carries wood to shore up his damaged home on Plum Island in Newbury Mass.
  • Children sled in Central Park Feb. 9 in New York City. The park received almost a foot of snow.
  • Snowbound vehicles remain stranded along Route 347 in Lake Grove, N.Y. Hundreds of cars were stranded on New York's Long Island roadways. Although some people abandoned their vehicles, first responders rescued motorists who chose to spend the frigid night in their vehicles.
  • A man tries to push a vehicle that got stuck on Route 347 in Lake Grove, N.Y.
  • Snowdrifts bury cars on a section of Gordon Street in the Brighton neighborhood in Boston.
  • Payloaders clear snow from the Long Island Expressway in Ronkonkoma, N.Y.
  • A woman digs out her car in Portland, Maine.
  • A man shovels snow off his car on M Street in a South Boston neighborhood.
  • A man uses a snowblower on the sidewalk in the Brighton neighborhood in Boston.
  • A child tubes down a hill in Central Park in New York City.
  • A dog pauses near a snowman in Central Park in New York City.
  • Neil Hodges uses a snowblower Feb. 9 in front of his home in Concord, N.H.
  • Deb Hanley, left, and Frank McGuire dig through about 3 feet of snow from around their car in Boston.
  • A police officer surveys the damage to a house in Salisbury, Mass., after it was hit by a wave and flooded by storm surge.
  • A man uses a tractor to clear the sidewalks in front of his home in Holyoke, Mass.
  • Two people walk dogs in Hoboken, N.J.
  • Victoria Savage tries to coax Moe, a Boston Terrier, during an outing in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston.
  • Hannah Ciniglio, 6, goes sledding in New York City.
  • John Silver shovels snow between buried cars in front of his home Feb. 9 in South Boston.
  • A worker carries a snow shovel across the Ground Zero construction site following a major winter storm in New York City.
  • Joe Janeczko helps dig his neighbor out of the snow in East Windsor, Conn.
  • A resident of South Boston walks his dog in the snow.
  • Children play after a winter storm hit in Montague, Mass.
  • Dogs romp in Central Park in New York City. New York and other regional airports saw more than 4,500 flight cancellations.
  • People walk through Prospect Park in Brooklyn.
  • A man runs across the Brooklyn Bridge.
  • Steve Hull digs out his car after it was covered by drifting snow in Portland, Maine.
  • A man shovels a walkway Feb. 9 in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston.
  • A truck with a snowplow drives over downed power lines in downtown Hyannis, Mass.
  • A hospital employee walks through the snow on the way to work at Cape Cod Hospital in downtown Hyannis, Mass.
  • Storm surge from the ocean crashes over the sea wall along Winthrop Shore Drive in Winthrop, Mass.
  • Mike Streeter shovels snow in his front yard as storm surge from the ocean crashes over the sea wall in Winthrop, Mass.
  • A family watches as storm surge from the ocean floods down Coral Street in Winthrop, Mass.
  • Floodwaters from ocean storm surge flow down Coral Street in Winthrop, Mass.
  • Sam Schepise braves the wind and cold to photograph the sunrise Saturday near Newtown, Pa.
  • A woman shovels snow off a walkway in Winthrop, Mass.
  • A pedestrian crosses a snow-covered street in New York City.
  • A man walks a dog down a snow covered street in New York City. A powerful winter storm knocked out power to an estimated 650,000 and dumped more than two feet of snow on parts of the northeast.
  • A man shovels snow Feb. 9 along Winthrop Shore Drive in Winthrop, Mass. A powerful winter storm has knocked out power to 650,000 and dumped more than 2 feet of snow in parts of New England.
  • Snow and ice cover the side of a building building in the Seaport World Trade Center area of Boston.
  • A man walks past snow-covered cars in the South End neighborhood of Boston. The Boston area received about 2 feet of snow from a winter storm.
  • A man pushes a snow blower to clear the plaza steps of Lincoln Center, home of New York's Fashion Week shows. In New York City, the snow total in Central Park was 8.1 inches by early Saturday morning.
  • Hank Luth brushes snow piled high on his car parked in his driveway in Glen Head, N.Y.
  • Cars sit buried by snowdrifts in a parking lot in Southington, Conn., after a heavy snowfall and high winds from a storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow on New England.
  • A worker carries a mannequin outside Lincoln Center, home of New York's Fashion Week shows, in New York City.
  • Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trains sit idle early Saturday in Boston.
  • A pedestrian uses skis to travel through the deserted snow-covered streets of Boston.
  • A woman takes pictures of her dog in the snow in the Seaport World Trade Center area of Boston.
  • A pair of parking meters are covered with a coating of ice and snow in Boston.
  • Emergency responders survey storm damage in Winthrop, Mass. A massive snowstorm has left more than 650,000 people without power throughout New England.
  • A woman walks past windows covered with snow at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston.
  • A snowplow works to clear streets in Winthrop, Mass.
  • Eguin Belasquez steers a snow blower as he helps his friend dig out in Sea Cliff, N.Y.
  • Andrew Laliberte, of Billerica, Mass., digs a pathway through a snowdrift in Boston.
  • A man works to clear a sidewalk early Saturday morning in Amherst, Mass.
  • Snowplows operate in the Back Bay neighborhood during a lingering blizzard in Boston.
  • Snow blankets Copley Square in Boston.
  • A woman wades through snow in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston.
  • A plow operator passes cars buried by drifting snow early Feb. 9 in Hadley, Mass.
  • People shield themselves from the blowing snow as a blizzard arrives in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood on Friday.
  • Snow is cleared in front of Boston Public Library on Friday.
  • Workers shovel snow in New York's Times Square on Friday night.
  • Louie Rodriguez of the New Bedford Forestry Department cuts a fallen tree at the intersection of Rotch St. and Maple St. in New Bedford, Mass., on Friday.
  • A man operates a snowblower in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood on Friday.
  • People walk past a church as snow arrives in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood Friday.
  • A woman crosses Congress Street during a snow storm, Friday in Portland, Maine.
  • Robert Burck, aka the Naked Cowboy, performs in Times Square as it snows Friday.
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Hurricane-force winds and history-making snowfalls had conspired to spread misery from New Jersey to Maine. Winds gusted to 76 mph in Boston and 84 mph in Cuttyhunk, Mass., during the height of the storm Saturday, the National Weather Service reported. The storm piled the most snow on Hamden, Conn. — 40 inches — and was the fifth largest in Boston history, with 24.9 inches of snow recorded there.

The 14.8 inches that fell on Saturday alone broke Boston's record for of 12.4 inches in a single day, set in 1994.

The 31.9 inches in Portland, Maine, is the most ever recorded there from a single snowstorm; the storm was the second biggest for Hartford, Conn. (22.8 inches) and Concord, N.H. (24 inches), and third biggest in Worcester, Mass. (28.7 inches).

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said his city dodged the worst of the weather, with Central Park coming in at just under a foot of snow.

But in New England, while many highways were cleared Sunday, many side roads remained impassable and cars remained entombed by snowdrifts. Some people found the snow packed so high against their homes they couldn't get their doors open.

Municipal workers from New York to Boston labored through the night Saturday in snow-bound communities.

"We've never seen anything like this," said Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone of Long Island, which got more than 2½ feet of snow.

The storm, dubbed "Nemo" by the Weather Channel, was not as bad as some of the forecasts led many to fear, and not as dire as the Blizzard of '78, used by longtime New Englanders as the benchmark by which all other winter storms are measured.

Contributing: Doyle Rice, Gary Strauss, Kevin McCoy, Ben Mutzabaugh, Stephanie Haven; Associated Press


Source: http://www.theusalinks.com/2013/02/10/blizzard-fallout-some-wont-get-power-back-for-days/
Posted by The USA Links at 20:18

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