Power outages may continue for days in R.I.
February 9, 2013 11:39 pm
PROVIDENCE JOURNAL / BARBARA POLICHETTI
Three supersized plows work on the apron around a gate area at T.F. Green Airport Saturday.
With savage force reminiscent of a blizzard 35 years ago, a winter storm wrote itself into history this weekend. As much as 27.6 inches of snow had buried neighborhoods after the storm departed southeastern New England on Saturday.
Officially recorded wind gusts neared hurricane strength, although there were reports of higher gusts in parts of the state.
The most profound impact was loss of electricity. By 8:30 a.m. Saturday, 187,000 Rhode Island customers had lost power, including all of East Providence, Barrington, Warren, Bristol and Aquidneck Island. That number had dropped to 115,481 as of 10 p.m., but it may be days before all service is restored, according to National Grid.
Emergency shelters opened in Barrington, Bristol, Coventry, Cranston, Cumberland, Jamestown, Middletown, Newport, Richmond, South Kingstown, Tiverton, Warwick and Westerly. Statewide travel restrictions were lifted at 4 p.m. Saturday.
As of early Saturday evening, no deaths resulting from the storm had been reported, nor were there reports of accidents during the storm on state roads and highways. "There were no accidents at all throughout the state, luckily, so we didn't have any injuries," said Rhode Island State Police Lt. William Jamieson.
Almost 170 people sought treatment for storm-related heart attacks, falls and other injuries at Lifespan network hospitals -- Rhode Island, Newport, Hasbro Children's and Miriam -- said spokeswoman Ellen M. Slingsby. Ten people were hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning, Slingsby said. Their condition was unavailable Saturday evening.
The storm left 17 inches of snow at T.F. Green Airport, according to the National Weather Service, tying it for seventh on the list of Providence snowstorms -- a list topped by the Blizzard of 1978, when 28.6 inches of snow fell at Green. Local amounts from this weekend's storm were higher: 27.6 inches in West Glocester, 26.3 inches in North Foster, and 26.1 inches in Woonsocket.
A gust of 63 mph was recorded at 8 p.m. Friday at Green Airport. The wind hit 90 mph on top of the Pell Bridge at 9:03 p.m. Friday, according to the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority. The bridge had been closed to all but emergency vehicles.
Most main roads in the region were passable by nightfall, but many side streets were not.
Power to all customers should be restored "early" this week, said National Grid spokesman David D. Graves.
"The difficulties typically associated with service restoration following a severe storm have been compounded by the heavy snowfall, which has prevented us from getting to the downed trees, wires and poles we have to clear before restoration can be completed," Graves said.
Closed during the worst of the storm, Green Airport reopened Saturday and was to receive incoming flights starting at 6:30 p.m.
Inevitably, comparisons were made to the Blizzard of 1978.
But unlike 35 years ago, few, if any, motorists were stranded in the Blizzard of '13, and the National Guard did not have to conduct thousands of rescue missions. For this, modern technology took credit. Assisted by computer modeling, meteorologists last Monday cautioned of a significant storm. As the week unfolded, warning spread by media, text message and Internet.
