Northeast Snowstorm: Cleanup Underway, Power Restored to Some Regions
After hundreds of thousands of residents across the U.S. Northeast were left for days without electricity, cleanup efforts are finally gaining momentum Tuesday as power is being restored in a number of regions.
As the roads are cleaned of debris and power lines are restored, utility workers are expected to restore power to the hardest hit areas by Friday.
According to the Hartford Courant, roughly 670,000 Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) users were still without power on Tuesday afternoon.
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Jeff Butler, president of CL&P, has said that 486 line crews and 284 tree crews are now on the streets clearing roads and working to reach the areas that were hit the hardest as soon as possible.
Response efforts have also been boosted by federal aid, which was made available after President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency on Monday.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has said that he understands the frustrating conditions residents are being forced to endure, but has called for patience and said that most of the 300,000 still without power should see the problem resolved by the end of the week.
The Boston Globe reported that the western part of the state experienced the biggest hardships, as it was covered in two feet of snow while still dealing with damages caused by Hurricane Irene in late August.
A massive cleanup in New Jersey along 50 miles of tracks has restored service to the NJ Transit rail system, which left tens of thousands of passengers without transportation means on Monday, The Star-Ledger reported.
The commissioner of the state Department of Transportation, James Simpson, shared that the cleanup will cost millions, and called it “the worst snowstorm the area has ever had.”
Some students across the Northeast may get to stay home the entire week, as many public schools remained closed on Tuesday over safety issues, despite getting power back on.
