Efforts continue to restore power after Nor’easter hits western Massachusetts

BLANDFORD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - A powerful winter storm left quite a mess across the Bay State and hundreds of people in the dark in the hilltown communities.

“I know there are people a number of people on Russell Stage Road that have lost power and there was a big tree up on the road and it was there all night, so that road was cut off,” said Joann Martin of Blandford.

The town of Blandford declared a state of emergency on Tuesday due to the extensive damage caused by the nor’easter.

“This is more snow than we’ve seen in many years. Certainly in the last couple of years, we haven’t had much at all. I’ve only been living up here about 11 years and this is definitely the most I’ve ever seen up here,” Martin added.

On our trip through the hilltowns, our crew noticed several utility trucks from out of state working to restore power to the community of Blandford.

“We have so many trees down and so much snow on top of those trees and roads that have been blocked and trees that are blocking the roads, so it has been a tough restoration. Now, of course, we have high winds which complicates things because we use buckets to go up in the air to make repairs, so we got to be cautious,” said Eversource spokesperson Priscilla Ress.

Ress told Western Mass News that Eversource has restored power to more than 16,000 customers, mostly in western Massachusetts, since the storm began.

“The goal is to have everybody have their power substantially back on by 10:00 tonight, so we are working tirelessly. Our crews understand the importance of people having their power, but also, they understand they have work safely in these are really treacherous conditions…We brought in a lot of crews as they finish their work in eastern Mass., they have been coming in waves into western Mass. so that is certainly helping,” Ress added.

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