Winter weather presented a litany of challenges in the Twin Cities on Monday, with many homes losing power and varying weather patterns depending on location.
Data from Unitil around 5:30 p.m. showed a number of power outages in the region. The town of Ashby had 744 customers without power. Elsewhere, 822 customers in Fitchburg; 1,097 customers in Lunenburg; and 891 customers in Townsend were impacted. Seven customers in Shirley and 23 in Leominster were also without power.
Power outages also occurred with the region’s other major service provider, National Grid. Data showed 94 customers in Lancaster, 280 in Leominster, 18 in Pepperell and 196 in Shirley; 3,696 customers were affected in total.
Fitchburg Mayor Stephen DiNatale said Department of Public Works employees and city contractors had an unenviable task ahead of them. He said the snow was heavy, wet and that temperature fluctuations would not help. As the city got colder, there was also an ice impact.
“These guys are out straight and that’s concerning, obviously, having to stay up long hours and get the job done. They’re great about it, they do it well,” DiNatale said.
DiNatale added snow had accumulated over the weekend and throughout Monday, not helping the power outages.
“Unitil is on the job,” DiNatale said. “They’ve called in additional crews and they’ll be working through the night and into tomorrow as well.”
The situation in Leominster depended on what elevation you were at. Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella said in the flatter part of the city, like near City Hall, it was mostly rain until 1 p.m. However, rain turned to snow in the afternoon.
For residents in the city’s hills, snow from the weekend combined with snow Monday, causing trees and branches to give way and knocking out power.
“If it was 20 degrees, there’d be no question. It’d be snow. But it’s been hovering right on the line,” Mazzarella said. “Last night, for instance, it went from snow to sleet, then some rain, back to snow. That one degree can change everything.”
Like his counterpart in Fitchburg, Mazzarella said the storm presented challenges for DPW workers. He said private contractors would start later in the day to assist with cleanup efforts.
“They’re salting the roads and then they’re pulled away to go up and push trees back and cut trees down,” Mazzarella said. “So it cuts down on the crews that are treating the roads and plowing.”
Both DiNatale and Mazzarella said 50 pieces of equipment had been deployed in their cities to help with cleanup efforts.
The Twin Cities were not alone in the challenges they faced. On Lakeview Avenue in Lunenburg, a large branch landed on live power lines just after 9 a.m. causing the road to be blocked off.
While often a frustrating experience, Ashby resident Deborah Moylan was able to stay positive with the power out.
“I think I consider power outages, in a strange way, a blessing,” Moylan said. “It’s a drag to be cold and it’s a drag to kind of have to do things differently. But it makes one do some things that are a little bit more sedentary, maybe even cerebral, like reading a book as opposed to constantly engaging online and sending emails.”
Moylan said her power went out around 4 a.m. and briefly returned around lunchtime. The time gave her and her husband Tom an opportunity to queue up water, since the town is without municipal water access. She added cellphones and having a gas stove are also invaluable resources.
On Sunday night, Moylan was on a bus trip to Boston to see a show. She said as people watched the trees, there was a concern this storm could play out like one in 2011 which saw her without power for 12 days.
“You couldn’t get out of your communities or your neighborhoods because the roads were blocked,” Moylan continued. “We didn’t have power for 12 days and there were people that didn’t have it for longer than that and it was widespread across the state. It wasn’t just here and so then it was difficult to get gas.”
She said since the storm in 2011, Unitil had been more proactive about keeping power lines clear of possible obstructions.
Given the conditions in Fitchburg on Monday night, DiNatale announced the Senior Center at 14 Wallace Avenue would open at 7:30 p.m. as an emergency shelter, with sleeping cots available.
In a Monday night press release, Unitil acknowledged that 3,600 of its customers were still without power in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
According to the company, many of the outages stemmed from motor vehicle accidents or trees on downed power lines. The company said approximately 11,000 customers had power restored whilst the storm was ongoing.
With additional heavy snow in the forecast for Wednesday, Unitil said it had secured additional crews from Canada to assist with continuing power restoration efforts.
