A PARK STREET resident got an early start clearing his driveway this morning.
(Mark Sardella Photo)
Published in the March 8, 2018 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The snow started later than forecast but when it came, it was the worst possible type from the perspective of public safety crews. The dense, wet, heavy snow brought down trees, limbs and wires. It weighed so heavily on wires that plows were unable to get down some streets, forcing the town to extend the parking ban to tomorrow morning to allow the DPW to finish clearing roads.
According to DPW Director Richard Stinson, the rain that was expected to change to snow early in the day didn’t make the switch until about 8:30 p.m. last night. All available DPW employees and contractors were called in by 9:30 p.m. to start plowing.
The heavy, wet snow downed trees and branches blocking streets and sidewalks and knocking down electrical service wires, cable and phone lines going into homes.
The snow weighed so heavily on wires hanging across some streets that plows were not able to pass. MGLD General manager Pete Dion said that those were almost all Verizon wires, as those are the lowest on the poles.
Stinson said that DPW crews would be plowing all day today and dealing with the cleanup of trees and branches through Saturday. He said that one private tree contractor has been called in to help, as all DPW personnel were assigned to plowing operations. He said that as plowing winds down, more workers will be assigned to the tree cleanup.
Stinson advised residents to use extreme caution when it comes to low or downed wires. Dion echoed that warning, although he said that after surveying the whole town it appeared that the great majority of downed wires were cable or phone wires. However, he said that residents should not assume and should call the MGLD to come out and check.
Dion said that the storm knocked out power to about 1,300 customers overnight in scattered outages, but by this morning that number was down to about 75. As of about 10 a.m. this morning, the remaining homes without power were mainly on Herbert Street and Mitchell Lane. Dion said that the MGLD was waiting for Verizon to reset a broken pole on Herbert Street.
The parking ban has been extended to 7 a.m. on Friday to allow DPW crews to finish plowing streets that were impassible due to low hanging wires.
Trash pickup is on schedule, Stinson said, but today’s recycling will be picked up tomorrow, along with Friday’s scheduled recycling pickup.
DPW crews will be out tonight widening some of the main streets.
School was cancelled today.
Gov. Charlie Baker ordered all non-essential state offices closed for the day as the second powerful nor’easter in less than a week winds down in Massachusetts.
The Republican also asked residents to stay off the roads if possible. Hundreds of schools canceled classes for the day and most courts delayed opening until 10 a.m. Thursday.
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported that more than 345,000 customers across the state were without power as of 9 a.m. The storm produced heavy, wet snow that brought down tree limbs and power lines.
MEMA reported numerous road closures due to fallen tree limbs. The speed limit on the Massachusetts Turnpike was reduced to 40 mph between the New York state border and Interstate 495.
There were no immediate reports of major coastal flooding from the latest storm.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
