Massachusetts Governor Healey gives blizzard update, ends State of Emergency

BOSTON – Governor Maura Healey has ended the State of Emergency she declared ahead of the blizzard that hit Massachusetts earlier this week. This comes after a massive, coordinated statewide response that began well ahead of the storm and included assistance from 13 Massachusetts agencies, dozens of municipalities, three other states and Canada. 

“The people of Massachusetts always come together to help each other in our time of need,” said Governor Healey. “I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has worked around the clock for the past week to prepare for and respond to this storm. I also appreciate the strong support from our neighbors in New York, Vermont, Connecticut and even New Hampshire. This has been a hard week, especially for those in Southeastern Massachusetts, and the work isn’t done yet, but we are going to keep working together to recover and support one another.”  

Overall, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation deployed over 3,000 pieces of state and vendor equipment, MEMA responded to 200 requests for assistance, and 350 members of the National Guard assisted with recovery efforts. Interstate support was also critical to these efforts. The Vermont Agency of Transportation sent approximately 30 vehicles, a mix of front-end loaders and dump trucks, and more than 30 employees. The New York State Thruway Authority, New York State Department of Transportation and New York Power Authority deployed more than 50 pieces of equipment, including front end loaders, dump trucks and snow clearing machinery. The Connecticut Department of Transportation provided 45 pieces of equipment, including trucks and snowblowers, and 85 trained drivers and mechanics. 

With the support of additional out-of-state resources, including more than 2,000 line, tree and service crew workers as well as other operations personnel, the number of customers without power dropped to 940 on Friday afternoon, down from a high of 291,859.  

Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency 

Ahead of the storm, Governor Healey activated the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) located at MEMA headquarters in Framingham, where many of the state’s emergency support function partners supported the five-day activation, facilitating rapid communication and coordination among public safety, transportation, public health, utilities, fire services, environmental protection, sheltering and mass care operations, and others. 

MEMA’s Regional Emergency Operations Centers in Agawam, Franklin and Tewksbury were also activated, and MEMA personnel provided on-site support in the Barnstable County Multi-Agency Coordination Center. MEMA’s Local Coordinators made outreach to every city and town in the hard-hit eastern region to assess needs and deploy available resources, and the agency hosted daily statewide calls to ensure coordination among local emergency management directors before, during and after the storm. 

MEMA’s Recovery Unit has begun working with municipalities to conduct initial damage assessments, which will inform any federal support we may be able to pursue. 

Department of Fire Services 

The Department of Fire Services staffed Special Operations teams in three strategic regions statewide throughout the storm to assist local fire departments in the event that health and safety resources, communications and conferencing support, or other assets were required. On Thursday, a DFS Incident Support Unit lent communications assistance to a Public Safety Answering Point after a generator failure left it without power. 

Officials continue to ask residents to “adopt” their nearest fire hydrant if they’re able. Clearing the snow and ice for three feet on all sides of a hydrant and shoveling a path to the street can save firefighters precious minutes in an emergency. 

Similarly, residents are urged to keep the exhaust vents from furnaces, dryers, and other heating appliances clear of snow and ice. If snow blocks these vents outside, carbon monoxide can rise to deadly levels inside. 

Department of Environmental Protection  

To address the handling of excessive snowfall amounts, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) provides Snow Disposal Guidance to local governments and businesses. The online guidance assists with snow disposal site selection, site preparation and maintenance, and emergency snow disposal options that are protective of wetlands, drinking water, and waterbodies. MassDEP also has an online mapping tool to help communities identify possible snow disposal options locally. If a community or business demonstrates that there is no remaining capacity at upland snow disposal locations, local conservation commissions are authorized to issue Emergency Certifications under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act for snow disposal in certain wetland resource areas.   

Department of Conservation and Recreation   

Staff from across the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) worked throughout the week to prepare for, monitor and safely clear the agency’s assets and properties from the blizzard, including parkways, roadways, parking lots, pedestrian pathways, bridges and more. The agency dispatched hundreds of pieces of equipment and prioritized clearing safe routes to schools and other essential areas along DCR roadways. DCR operations, engineering, forestry and fire control teams remained in close coordination with state, regional and local emergency response partners and deployed assistance to communities in need, including assisting with shelter setup in Harwich,  and tree removal/support in Orleans, Chatham, Brewster, and Fairhaven. DCR Fire and Ranger staff also provided critical incident management support functions at the Barnstable County Multi-Agency Coordination Center throughout the entire week.  

Locally, Fall River still has a parking ban in place, but the travel ban was removed Friday morning. SRTA bus service is expected to start up again on Saturday and City Hall reopened on Friday. School was cancelled for the entire week but is expected to return next week. According to the street plow tracker, 917 of 1,027 streets have been plowed.