BOSTON -- A blizzard for the record books pounded the Bay State Sunday with gale force winds, moderate flooding and whiteout conditions as residents were warned to stay indoors in life-threatening conditions.
Bay State residents awoke to pounding winds and snow drifts several feet high blocking their doorways Sunday as the Blizzard of 2005 slammed New England. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri both declared a state of emergency during the storm.
Although much of the storm seemed to have passed out to sea by mid-afternoon, more than 9,000 residents on the island of Nantucket were completely without power late Sunday, and Mass Electric said there seemed to be a problem with power coming through the cable that hooks the island to the main electrical grid. Many islanders were going to emergency shelters at the high school and hospital. On Cape Cod, NStar said 13,000 people were without electricity, and an additional 5,000 had no power on the south shore.
On the cape, Dennis, Mass., police and fire officials urged all residents to remain at home for the duration of the storm and to limit the use of candles and space heaters because of possible fire hazards. Building also officials cautioned residents to shovel snow away from direct vent flues in order to prevent the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning. Dennis residents are urged to call the Dennis Police Department at 508-394-1313 if they find they need transportation to a shelter.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said it will likely take several days to dig out from the storm and he canceled school on both Monday and Tuesday for Boston Public School students. He also said there will be no trash pickup in the city on Monday. [Hundreds of Bay State schools will be closed Monday. Check our
closings list.]
Menino also said he is requiring only essential city personnel to report for work Monday and is asking other city residents to stay home and off the roads in order to give public works crews a chance to clear the roadways.
The mayor's hotline for residents' non-emergency questions is 1-800-391-4039.Boston EMS chief Rich Serino said his crews were beginning to be about 50 percent busier than usual as they tried to answer emergency calls in the city, sometimes having to carry people down snow-clogged streets to ambulances. He said crews were seeing an increase in the number of cardiac calls as residents tried to start digging out several feet of snow.
The National Guard had more than 400 members on standby in the event coastal communities needed to evacuate towns along the north and south shores of Boston, which were expecting huge waves during the mid-morning high tide Sunday.
Capt. Winfield Danielson said guardsmen were prepared to assist civil agencies with transportation and snow removal if evacuations are necessary, but said it was up to local police and fire officials to decide if residents should leave their homes.
Plymouth, Mass., reported wind gusts of 62 mph and Providence, Mass., wind gusts of 53 mph as the storm pummeled the state. Route 6 in Provincetown was closed Sunday morning, as was Route 128 in the Gloucester, Mass., area. Logan International Airport was also closed, as were the Nahant Causeway and the Revere Beach Parkway.
The National Weather service said a storm surge of around 3 feet and waves of 25 to 35 feet just off the east coast would result in coastal flooding along Massachusetts east coast during the morning high tide.
In Winthrop, on the north shore, and Scituate, on the south shore, waves were breaking over some of the sea walls and there was some moderate flooding, but it was not as severe as anticipated and no injuries were reported. Drifting wind and whiteout conditions were the biggest threat to residents and public works crews.
WeatherCenter 5 meteorologist Dick Albert said the South Shore, Cape Cod and the islands were expected to get between 24 and 36 inches of snow before the storm abates late Sunday. Boston could get as much as 24 inches and possibly more.
Gov. Mitt Romney called for a state of emergency Saturday afternoon just as the snow began to fall, urging residents to stay off the roads.
"The snow is falling not in inches but in feet, we also have a full moon and that means a tidal surge. We expect 3 to 6 feet above normal high tide. That could be a problem on the coast. We're expecting high wind gusts. Very, very high winds gusts. With 4-to 6-feet surges above normal high tide, it could represent a very real problem for a number of homeowners. Shelters are being opened and the reason we're activating the National Guard is to be able to help in sheltering people who need to evacuate and find themselves on higher ground," Romney said.
By Sunday morning, plow operators were reporting abandoned vehicles along Route 9. Visibility was low on all roads because of blowing and drifting snow.
In Boston, Menino warned residents to keep their cars off the roads and off the streets.
"Let the public works departments do their job. It's important that we stay off -- no double-parking, no parking at fire hydrants or crosswalks. And also, during the snow storm and afterward, please, please dig out your fire hydrants," Menino said. Added to that list, he said, there is no parking on main thoroughfares and no throwing snow back out onto plowed streets.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority was reporting delays of about 20 minutes on the 'T,' and buses were only operating on the main roads.
Hundreds of religious organizations canceled services and classes Sunday morning and cities and towns enacted parking bans.
Logan International Airport closed about 3 a.m. Sunday morning after recording 20 inches of snow on the runways. Hundreds of flights were canceled and there was no estimate on when the airport would reopen.
Massport spokesman Phil Orlandella said American Airlines canceled all flights until 5 p.m. Monday, US Airways all flights until 2 p.m. and Delta, Song and Air-Tran all flights until 1 p.m.
Travelers were urged to call their airline or check the Massport Web site before coming to Logan.
Amtrak was also operating on reduced schedule. The rail operator said because of commercial power outages across New England, service between New York and Boston was extremely limited and subject to delay. Service between Washington, D.C. and New York was operating with minimal delay on a reduced schedule.
Passengers were urged to call 1-800-USA-RAIL for information on which trains will operate along the East Coast before going to any station to board a train.
Refresh this page for frequent updates.Copyright 2008 by TheBostonChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 
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