Parts of New England and New York were digging out of a nor’easter Wednesday that caused tens of thousands of power outages, numerous school cancellations and whiteout conditions on the roads.
The storm began Monday night and lasted throughout Tuesday, dumping as much as 3 feet (91 centimeters) of snow and gusty winds. Others got just a few inches or a wintry mix.
Some of the highest snow totals reported were 35 inches (89 centimeters) in Peterborough, New Hampshire, and in Ashby, Massachusetts, about 15 miles away (24 kilometers), the National Weather Service said. At least 2 feet (60 centimeters) of snow fell in parts of northern New York and the Catskill Mountains, with Indian Lake in New York’s Adirondack Mountains recording 31 inches (79 centimeters).
“It just snowed, and snowed, and snowed,” said Geoff Settles, a supervisor at a manufacturer who lives in Peterborough. “My wife and I were helping some of the neighbors dig out. Literally, we had to shovel five and six different times just to keep it from being basically up to our chest.”
Settles, who grew up in Leominster, Massachusetts, remembered blizzards there in the late 1970s. “I would say this is the most snow I’ve seen all my life,” he said Wednesday.
In Pittsfield, Massachusetts, which got at least 18 inch (45 centimeters) of snow, Michael Garvey was using his snow blower to clear his sidewalk and help a neighbor dig out his driveway.
“I’ve lived here my whole life and I’ve seen some snowstorms in April, so it doesn’t surprise me at all,” the 71-year-old retired Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office worker said. “We got teased a couple of weeks ago when the temperature was in the 50’s, but back to winter.”
About 67,000 customers in the region were remained without power by Wednesday evening, according to the PowerOutage.us tracking site.
“We are still expecting this to be a multiday restoration effort,” Unitil spokesperson Alec O’Meara said. Crews from New York and Pennsylvania arrived to help bring back power in parts of Massachusetts and help assess damage from trees and downed lines.
In a dramatic overnight rescue, a search team located two hikers stranded in heavy snow in Massachusetts’ Mount Washington State Forest.
The two male hikers, ages 47 and 53, had hoped to reach a cabin but called 911 on Tuesday night and said they could no longer see trail markings. Rescuers first attempted to use snowmobiles, but the snow was too deep and the six-person team — including two troopers from the State Police Special Emergency Response Team, three local firefighters, and a park ranger — set out on foot.
After trudging through snow for more than two hours, the searchers found the hikers at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday and led them out of the woods just before dawn.
There were concerns about roofs weighed down by the snow. An inflatable sports arena dome collapsed in Goffstown, New Hampshire, which received about 15 inches (38 centimeters) of snow. It wasn’t immediately known whether anyone was inside at the time or if …read more
Source:: News Headlines
