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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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December
2005
Volume 9 - Number
3 |
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The Blizzard of 78 is known in New England as the Storm of the Century. “All tolled, 99 people were killed and thousands of houses and businesses were destroyed or severely damaged, with damage estimates exceeding $2.3 billion (in 1998 dollars).” http://www.mass.gov/czm/blizzard78.htm It seemed like a combination of a hurricane, thunderstorm, and blizzard all at the same time. There was lightning and thunder at the beginning of it, which was extremely unusual for February. The severe winds and coastal flooding and endless falling snow and whiteouts lasted for two days. The storm dumped 27 inches of snow in Boston during February 6 and 7, 1978. But that wasn’t the only problem. There had been a major snowstorm 2 weeks earlier, so there was already about 2 feet of snow on the ground when this storm hit. Most reports fail to mention that fact. It wasn’t just the 27 inches of snow from this blizzard that brought the area to a standstill, it was the 27 inches on top of the 20 inches we already had. Traffic stopped completely on Route 128, the major ring road around Boston. Drivers waited for hours in their cars to be rescued. Many abandoned their cars and walked to the nearest shelters they could find. When it was over, the snow measured a minimum of 4 feet in most areas around the city. The drifts were up to15 feet high. You couldn’t toss a shovel of snow high enough to reach the top of the snowdrifts; there was just no place to put it all. Cars were completely buried. Streets were impassable. The power was out for several days. The governor ordered people to stay home and businesses to close for a week. Schools were closed for two weeks. Streets weren’t plowed because the snow was too deep for the plows. The only way to clear the streets was to use bucket loaders to scoop the snow into dump trucks, which then carted the snow away. I remember how beautiful it was when the storm ended. The sky was a beautiful bold clear blue, the sun was shining, and the snow was clean and white. It was cold, but not extremely cold. This beauty lasted for days because there was no traffic to turn the snow dirty gray. And it was so quiet! There was no noise because there were no cars and trucks and buses passing by and there was no power for television. People walked to their local store pulling sleds and toboggans to cart their groceries home. The stores ran low on supplies but never actually ran out of bread and milk. Work crews were able to clear the major roads within a few days so that most grocery stores could get emergency deliveries. My son was two weeks old so I needed to be able to boil water to sterilize bottles and diapers. I was glad that we had a gas stove; after that experience I’ll never rely only on an electric one. Even today, I always keep a supply of matches near the stove and a ready supply of candles and flashlight batteries. I also always try to keep a two-week supply of staples for four people in the house; canned goods and dry goods and paper goods like soup, pasta, spaghetti sauce and toilet tissue. And a manual can opener. |