| At
Large Business Briefs Cartoons District Court Report Editorial Gone Fishin' Letters to the Editor Real Estate Transactions Sports Sports Highlights |
| Art Bestsellers Dance Edibles Film In Print Music Theater |
| This
Week's Happenings Save
That Date Ongoing Events Groups Libraries Museums and Tours Children's Resources Hotlines 12-Step Programs Religious Services Volunteer Opportunities |
| Achievements Astrology Birds Births Community Shorts Dean's List Engagements Garden Notes Honor Roll Obituaries Off North Road Short Subjects Town Meetings Visiting Vet Weddings |
| Aquinnah Chilmark Edgartown Oak Bluffs Tisbury West Tisbury |
The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
January
27 - February 2, 2005 Edition
Web
Comments
- Email Submissions
|
EDITORIAL Cleanup January 27, 2005 Apart from its wild beauty and the glistening transformation of everything familiar, this January bodyslam of snow and wind has meant some property damage, some health threats, and significant inconvenience. Thirty inches of snow piled up against the doors, 10 feet of snow piled up at many street corners, driveways drifted four feet deep and impassable, firewood piles hidden in the snow, kids piled up in the house because school's been shut three days, small dogs piled up at the door wondering how to get outside to do the necessary without risking asphyxiation: it's been a trial. But for the snowplow operators whose job it is to clear those roads and parking lots and driveways, it's been a draining, equipment-straining battle against staggering meteorological odds. A successful battle, as it turns out. As Ed Panek writes in a letter published this morning, “This, my 20th winter at Mass Highway, showed the worst single event snowstorm I have witnessed. Normally, a two-inch per hour event is extremely hard to keep up with, but we witnessed sustained 5-7 inches per hour for many hours straight. With half the plows available from years past, only eight were available Island-wide. It is nothing short of miraculous that these fine men and women have gotten the state roadway system in the condition you see it in today.” Mr. Panek is leader of MassHighway operations on the Vineyard. He and his crew, along with their private contract snow removal workers have indeed performed like miracle workers. The private contractors, such as DECA's Jim Glavin and so many others, with the gargantuan equipment that is required to clear deep, drifted snow from long, winding driveways that wander into the woods, have also performed masterfully. As clumsy as traffic flow may be four days and two snowstorms since Saturday, we can get around better than we had a right to expect we might, and essential services have not failed us. Mr. Panek calls it “stamina, commitment and expertise.” It is certainly all of that. Speaking of miracles, or at least of demi-miracles, Chilmarkers for the most part found themselves spared of power outages during the worst of the storm on Sunday. Ordinarily, Chilmark residents expect to be without power, at least intermittently, whenever a tempest rages, or even when an energetic, summertime zephyr busts a move. Sunday, apart from a few minutes off early in the day, electrical power flowed uninterruptedly through the worst of it. Why the change? We learn that NSTAR has committed enormous resources to replacing decrepit overhead lines Island-wide over the past year or so, and the power company had also stationed emergency crews on the Island to get service back quickly in the event of an outage. Extensive tree trimming in the vicinity of power lines also contributed to the maintenance of electrical service despite the inclemency. This thoughtful preparation paid off handsomely for grateful NSTAR customers. It may not have been the Great Storm of 1888, that benchmark March blizzard that is generally regarded as the most damaging Northeast snowstorm in history, and there is certainly more winter to come. Nevertheless, the big snow blow of 2005 certainly imposed itself and called for the best from those who keep the community's life humming. And, thank goodness, they answered the call so handsomely. |
||
|
©The
Martha's Vineyard Times 2004 - www.mvtimes.com
|
 |
|
