Boston

Officials Focused on Storm Damage, Ongoing Power Issues in Wake of Nor'easter

Officials and residents spent Sunday assessing damage caused by this weekend's nor'easter, which ravaged many coastal communities and left over a half million in New England without power.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) said Sunday that southeastern Massachusetts and pockets of northeastern Massachusetts are continuing to experience significant power outages.

As of Sunday night, nearly 140,000 people were still in the dark, with more than 108,000 of those in Massachusetts.

Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito visited Quincy, Gloucester, and other areas hardest hit by the storm Sunday, a day after Gov. Baker declared a state of emergency to expedite response and recovery efforts in the state.

The state's emergency management agency teams will be heading to several towns Monday to assess storm damage, including in Scituate. Those teams will be looking at roads, bridges and homes. 

The storm ripped up homes and took down powerlines in Scituate, where nearly 80-percent of residents were still without power Sunday night, and the hum of generators could be heard throughout the town.

One Scituate resident who has been without power and unable to watch cable said he wasn't aware a second storm was coming until speaking with NBC10 Boston, and residents will not have much time to make repairs before that next storm hits.

“When I bought my house my studio is in the cellar. For the first 10 years. I melt glass for a living. We had 100 year storm and then two or three years later we had another hundred year storm and now we have 100 year storm less than every hundred days,” Marj Bates said.

Schools are cancelled Monday in Scituate, and the power is expected to be on late Monday night.

Another town still mostly in the dark is Bridgewater. National Grid says nearly half of the town was still without electricity Sunday night, which is more than 4,000 people.

Town leaders say power won't be restored in certain areas until at least Tuesday evening because of trees still down on power lines and crews trying to play catch up with repairs.

One Bridgewater resident had two massive pine trees crash in his front yard.

Reynald Cheiant says the storm knocked out his power, along with everyone else's on his street.

Had the wind been blowing the other way, one of those trees would have landed on Cheiant's neighbor's house.

"Thank God nobody got hurt," he said. "I'm glad the tree didn't fall in her house."

Town leaders say the area also got drenched with six inches of rainfall, the highest level in the entire state. 

Crews are still trying to assist businesses and residents impacted by the power outages and are asking for patience.

School officials were debating whether or not to cancel classes Monday.

MEMA will be hosting a conference call Monday with municipal officials to provide an update on power restoration efforts, provide guidance on debris clearance and removal operations and discuss options for and guidance on emergency repairs to sea walls, dunes and other barriers that were breached during the Friday and Saturday high tides to ensure preparations for the next expected weather system.

In addition, the Department of Environmental Protection issued a Severe Weather Emergency Declaration to suspend permitting and certification requirements under the Wetlands Protection Act for coastal communities.

The Red Cross visited some communities to distribute food and cleaning supplies Sunday.

Contact Us