Snow cleanup continues as weather warms up the Tri-Town

Roads are clear and power has been restored in the Tr-Town since a historic blizzard hit the South Coast this week, but school closures and snow cleanup continues. 

Tri-Town residents and officials are working to remove snow and return to normal. 

Old Rochester Superintendent Michael Nelson said classes across the district will return to in-person learning Monday. 

“We're in a pretty good place overall as we look to next week,” Nelson said. 

After five days of canceled classes this week and two other weather-related cancellations, the district must make up 7 days of school and the last day of school is projected to be Monday, June 22. 

All normal breaks, including April break, will still be the same. 

Nelson said the district is checking school roofs for lingering snowpiles and hopes the warm weather will melt additional snow. 

“We're hoping that the warmer weather over the weekend will allow some of the snow on the roadways to widen for safe bus travel and student travel,” Nelson said. 

Jody Dickerson, director of the Marion Department of Public Works, said workers are in the final stages of cleanup in Marion. Dickerson reported that everything should mostly be cleaned up by Friday evening. 

“We're in very good shape here,” Dickerson said. “I can't say enough about the crew. They did an outstanding job.”

He said they were assisted by the town of Berlin who sent extra equipment and personnel for the heavy snowfall. 

The town also received aid from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, which provided additional equipment.

Town Administrator Geoffrey Gorman said the DPW coordinated with Eversource to restore power to the town. Town employees cleared snow and fallen trees from roads and gave the electricity provider access to damaged power lines.

“You won't hear me say this all the time, but Eversource did a tremendous job,” Gorman said. 

He said the town worked with the company to return power to high-priority infrastructure first, such as to the sewer and water departments so people without power could still access some town services.Old Hammondtown sixth graders Owen Valentum, Aiden Vashon, Michael Fradival said they enjoyed watching the snow cleanup and two full weeks off from school, since February break preceded the snow cancellations. 

“We like watching the snow go boom into the other big pile of snow over there,” Owen said, pointing to snow piles near Mattapoisett Harbor. 

Owen and Aiden spent a lot of time sledding and building snowmen over their break, while Michael went south for warmer waters. 

Michael and his family spent time in Florida on a cruise, then spent a few days at Disney World because their flights home were canceled due to weather. 

Grateful for the days off, the boys were ready to get back to school. 

“I'm tired of this,” Aiden said. “I don't want to have any more days in the summer that we have to go back to.”