A Blizzard Waning continues in effect until 1:00 this afternoon for Connecticut, Rhode Island, Eastern Massachusetts, and Southeastern New Hampshire; until 4:00 this afternoon for the seacoast of New Hampshire and the coastal plain of Maine; and until 7:00 this evening for Hancock and Washington counties in Maine. In addition, there is a Coastal Flood Warning in effect until 12:00 noon for the east facing coastline of Massachusetts.
Snow plows continue to operate under difficult conditions, and emergency crews have been responding to a number of medical, hazardous condition, and other emergencies. In a number of incidents, emergency vehicles became stuck and had to be rescued by snow plows. In other cases, even the snow plows were becoming stuck, and other snow plows were being taken off the road due to various types of mechanical breakdowns.
In some communities, due to treacherous road conditions and blinding wind-driven snow, all Town vehicles were ordered off the roads until safety conditions improve. Residents have been asked to stay indoors and not to attempt travel by any means (e.g., driving, walking).
States of Emergency have been declared in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. In addition, travel bans, limiting travel by vehicles considered non-essential, have been issued in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
Although the blizzard (which the Weather Channel nicknamed Nemo) continues to impact the region, local (as well as state and federal) government agencies, utility companies, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and residents are preparing to face the challenge of cleaning up and restoring a sense of normalcy to New England and beyond.
Media reports:
CT: Storm socks state with heavy snow, wind and travel bans (Connecticut Post)
CT: Storm Rages On; Snowfall Totals Over 3 Feet In Some Towns (Hartford Courant)
ME: Historic blizzard batters Maine (Portland Press Herald)
ME: 1 hurt in 19-vehicle pileup on I-295 in Cumberland (Bangor Daily News)
MA: Massive storm hammers area with wind and snow (Cape Cod Times)
MA: Governor Deval Patrick’s surprise travel ban wins praise, criticism (Boston Globe)
NH: Wicked weather tests mettle of Granite Staters (New Hampshire Union Leader)
NH: Snow-mageddon First blizzard of year brings region to grinding halt (Foster's Daily Democrat)
RI: Nemo whitewashes the area (Westerly Sun)
RI: Blizzard knocks out power to 187,000 RI homes, businesses (WJAR-TV)
VT: Area road crews prepare for worst (Brattleboro Reformer)
CNN: 1 dead, 600,000 without power from ongoing blizzard (9 FEB 13)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment