Updated Feb. 24, 4:03 pm
A travel ban for Dukes County, issued at 6 pm Monday as a result of a historic blizzard that took the Island by force, was lifted by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey’s office at noon Tuesday.
Residents should still use caution and stay home, the governor’s office said, as crews continue to clean up nearly two feet of snow as well as downed trees and power lines. The state of emergency, issued Sunday by the governor’s office, remains in effect for Dukes County as of Tuesday afternoon.
“While we are lifting the travel ban, the state of emergency remains in effect for some counties, and we urge people to continue using caution and stay home today if possible to allow crews to do their work,” said Gov. Healey in a press release. “Our teams continue to be out in full force to support cities and towns after this storm, providing equipment and personnel to help with snow removal and other efforts. We know that there are still many households without power, and the utilities are working hard to assess damage and restore power as quickly and safely as possible. We thank the people of Massachusetts for their patience and caution while we work to get back to normal, and we are especially grateful for all of the workers who continue to be out here around the clock to deliver for our communities.”
Gov. Healey deployed 350 members of the Massachusetts National Guard to support storm recovery across the state, and Eversource rerouted crews from Western Massachusetts and New Hampshire to the Cape and Southeastern Massachusetts.
Olessa Stepanova, spokesperson for Eversource, said around 3 pm that there are still 220,000 outages in the state, down from 300,000 yesterday. The company was able to restore 167,000 customers since they started to see damage around 3:30 am Monday. Out-of-state resources arrived across the Cape and Islands and the South Coast overnight and throughout Tuesday. Stepanova said 2,000 crews — line, tree, service, and operational personnel — came to the hardest-hit areas, which are Barnstable, Dukes, Plymouth, and Bristol counties.
“We have Mother Nature cooperating with us today, so we are doing the best that we can. Step one is getting out there and assessing the damage, so that’s what we’ve been doing a lot of today, is getting out there, doing damage assessment, figuring out exactly where you know our crews need to prioritize,” Stepanova said.
Eversource crews were limited as to where they could safely access affected areas Monday because they can’t use bucket trucks in winds over 35 mph.
“It was tough for us to get anything done during the storm yesterday, so we had to wait until it stopped, and then once it stopped, it was dark out, and it was hard to see, and it was hard to travel,” Stepanova said. There remains a lot of areas still that high snow banks that buried wires and cables prohibit some work.
There are still over 10,000 customers on the Island that don’t have power, and a handful of customers could not have power for three to five days, an estimation for a storm of this caliber.
Power outages by town, as of Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 3:10 pm:
Edgartown: 4,387 customers (73 percent)
Oak Bluffs: 4,275 customers (94 percent)
Tisbury: 1,162 customers (32 percent)
West Tisbury: 78 customers (2 percent)
Chilmark: 477 customers (27 percent)
Aquinnah: 6 customers (1 percent)
The Island continues to try to dig out of around 20 inches of snow, as reported in West Tisbury by the National Weather Service. The federal agency doesn’t yet have a full idea of how much snow fell across the Island. State contractors, highway departments, and local companies are at work to get the snow cleared, so that more can be done to restore power and heat to Islanders.
Many stories and businesses on the Island are closed Tuesday due to snow blockages or power outages, and all town halls are closed. Edgartown Police reported that Upper Main Street is closed due to downed power lines. Stop & Shop in Edgartown is open but has no power and can only sell “shelf-stable” products. The branch in Vineyard Haven is open and has some power but is experiencing refrigeration issues. Both Cronig’s locations are open today and didn’t lose power.
The pharmacy at Stop and Shop at the Edgartown Triangle is closed due to a power outage. Vineyard Scripts Pharmacy in Vineyard Haven is open as well as Conroy Apothecary.
Transportation to and from the Island is still somewhat thwarted. The Steamship Authority was forced to cancel early trips Tuesday due to crews unable to get out from under the snow and to work. The ferry line also canceled some trips in the afternoon due to “weather conditions.” The M/V Martha’s Vineyard is the only vessel that can currently run on the Woods Hole-Martha’s Vineyard route. The bus system is partially running as well, but road conditions forced the VTA to cancel routes 2, 4, 5, 8, and 10 A as of mid-day Tuesday. Other routes are on an altered schedule.
There are several places where Islanders who don’t have heat or power can go. Edgartown School was opened as a warming center Monday and is open until further notice. The Martha’s Vineyard Museum in Vineyard Haven also opened as a refuge on Tuesday from noon to 5 pm. The West Tisbury library was also open Tuesday as well as overnight Monday. Harbor Homes is also available as an overnight shelter and offers meals, and the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society offers emergency shelter for animals and livestock.