Boston recovers from snowstorm
BOSTON – Boston bounced back quickly Wednesday from the Blizzard of 2015, with subways, buses and trains up and running again the morning after the storm buried a swath of New England in 2 to 3 feet of snow.
Many businesses reopened, as did Logan Airport, and homeowners, motorists and storekeepers dug out with grudging praise for the forecasters, who missed the mark in New York but got it right in New England.
A Boston bartender, Chris Laudani, became an instant symbol of the city’s resilience for shoveling snow off the yellow and blue Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street, where the 2013 terrorist bombing killed three people and wounded more than 260.
“For someone to brave the blizzard to clear our finish line for us is yet another statement as to what our event means not only to runners but also to Americans,” said Tom Grilk, executive director of the Boston Athletic Association, which oversees the marathon.
Meteorologists had warned that Boston would get more than 2 feet of snow by Tuesday night, and the National Weather Service said the city ended up with 24.4 inches, the sixth-highest total on record. Other areas received around 2 to 3 feet, pretty much as predicted.
“They actually got it right,” James Hansen said as he cleared a Boston sidewalk.
There was no gloating among the forecasters, who just seemed relieved they were on the money.
As the storm gathered earlier in the week, forecasters had warned that Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey could get 1 to 2 feet of snow. But in the end, they didn’t even see a foot.
With snow removal in Boston well underway, commuters high-stepped their way through a warren of snowy paths and towering snowbanks that gave the capital an almost alpine feel.
Still, bitter cold threatened to complicate efforts to clear clogged streets and restore power. Forecasters warned that it won’t get above freezing in Boston for a week, and several more inches of snow are expected Friday and again over the weekend.
Early on, Gov. Charlie Baker made a key decision, ordering a driving ban to give crews a chance to clear the mounting snow off roadways. Baker said he wrestled with that but it “worked pretty much as we hoped.”
“We’ve come out of this in relatively good shape,” he said Wednesday before visiting the hard-hit South Shore area, where the storm breached a seawall and caused flooding.
In Marshfield, officials said at least four homes likely will be condemned and at least a dozen more sustained substantial damage after two 80-foot sections of seawall were smashed.
Around Massachusetts, Worcester got 33.5 inches, the highest amount recorded since 1905, and Auburn and Lunenburg each reported 36 inches.
A man shoveling snow in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on Tuesday night collapsed and died. Two other deaths, both on Long Island, were blamed on the storm.