As the nor’easter that’s expected to dump up to a foot of snow on parts of Massachusetts approaches Tuesday, the Bay State is bracing itself for the impacts of the storm, with chances of high wind, coastal flooding and snow.
While Boston isn’t expected to get slammed by the nor’easter, preparations were made. A major part of those preparations are storm barriers. At the aquarium T stop, several feet of storm barriers were set up in preparation for flooding or storm surge.
The hope is that overall, less people will head into this area when or if snow covers the streets and packed snow piles in spots across the city.
The path of the storm has changed significantly overnight, but city officials have not wavered on their expectations and precautions for safety.
So far, school has already been canceled and most public buildings, like libraries and municipal offices, and community centers are also closed.
Now, when the snow does arrive later Tuesday morning, there will be hundreds of vehicles out clearing the roads and salting.
Residents and businesses are expected to also maintain and clear sidewalks.
Space savers will be allowed for about 48 hours after the storm emergency except in the South End and Bay Village should they be needed. Still, the mayor has advised people to take the storm seriously. Be ready for changing conditions and if possible, don’t even come out.
“The bottom line is do your best to stay indoors. If you can work from home, if you can make plans, check in on your neighbors. Make sure that people are OK, and they have what they need,” said Mayor Michelle Wu.
For anyone heading into Boston, whether that’s by vehicle or using the T, 311 will be incredibly helpful to report any issues or concerns. 24-hour shelters will be open and accepting walk-ins.
With that shift in the storm’s path, comes an even greater concern for the chance of flooding along the South Shore.
Roadblocks are up in some places in Scituate, work crews are already out and about on the roads and along the coastline, sandbags in place to help mitigate the expected flooding.
But even with all that preparation, town leaders in Scituate canceled school Tuesday for all students because coastal flooding is expected around the time the students would’ve been released.
However, town leaders said that now frees up some crews from having to clean the parking lots of those schools so they can focus their attention on low lying areas like Cole Parkway, Front Street and down by the Scituate Harbor, which is typically known as the danger zone.
“We pre-positioned our high-water vehicles from our police and fire in case we have to get people out of these places and then the DPW will pre-position barriers and things like that so that those areas that are flooding will be closed off to keep people from driving in it,” said Town Manager James Boudreau.
Up to 60 plows and trucks are expected to be out and about on Tuesday.
It looks like Worcester, however, will be spared from the worst of the snow, but the city still planned for it.
The snow hasn’t started yet, but pre-treatment was seen on the roads Tuesday morning. The salters were loaded up shortly after midnight and they began going along the main arteries spreading salt and sand, then hitting some of the side streets.
They’ve got plenty of salt because we’re below average for snowfall this season and even the snow totals have been cut way back for Worcester.
It’s still unclear during the height of this storm how fast the snow will come down and its consistency, so public works crews are preparing for anything.
“I’ve heard a lot of different things – is it coming in light and fluffy, is it coming in wet and heavy – I’m erring that it’s going to be a little bit heavier, maybe not so wet, at least in this area, because we shouldn’t see the rain. It’s going to be all snow,” said Worcester Public Works Commissioner Jay Fink.
Fink said they’ve got about 350 pieces of equipment ready to deploy once the snow starts falling.
