Updated March 4.
The sun glinted off white snow, with bright orange and blue toboggans stark against a steep hill that for generations has been used by Islanders for one primary wintertime purpose: sledding.
Six-year-old Lucca Sornas and 10-year-old Alistair Zieman trudged up a barely made path midday on Tuesday with their sleds in tow. Sornas used a kayak oar to keep himself upright. The snow was almost up to his shoulders in the deepest points.
“Let’s do the train!” Sornas yelled out to his new friend as he tried to keep up. The “train” was a sled game they had come up with, where Zieman put the rope for Sornas’ sled around his waist and they went down the hill together. Their goal was to land the jump midslide.
This week was not only one of the largest snowstorms the Island has seen in years, it’s also winter break for students.
“It’s hard to stay home with a 6-year-old,” Elaine Sornas, Lucca’s mother, said with a laugh as she watched her son slide, then tumble-roll down the hill with his friend. “He was excited to go out after the snow.”
While many locals were forced to stay home with no power, snow piled in wavy dunes on their cars and trees blocking their roads, others braved the elements.
And some were out just doing their jobs.
John O’Donnell, who works for excavation contractor Richard T. Olsen and Son, was tasked with snow removal for municipal and school buildings in West Tisbury.
“Today, we started at 5 am. We started at 10 on Sunday night, and were on all night,” O’Donnell yelled out of his truck window while he worked on Tuesday afternoon. “We’ve had crews out ever since the storm started.”
O’Donnell drove a large truck with a massive bed as his colleague Justin Smith hauled snow from a dump truck into O’Donnell’s vehicle. The weight of the snow jostled the work truck as it hit the bed.
When asked how this storm compared with the other the Island experienced in late January, O’Donnell said, “This one is way worse.” This was largely due to the many trees that had fallen, blocking roads and downing power lines.
Smith, who operated the machinery next to him, had been removing trees from main and side roads for days. “He’s been busy,” O’Donnell added. “We’ll be hauling snow all week.”
While many restaurants, retail shops, and municipal buildings remained closed due to snow blockages or power outages, sparse storefronts started to slowly open their doors early Tuesday morning. Some essential stores and gas stations swung their doors out onto the snow-smeared sidewalks and welcomed in Islanders.
Stop & Shop in Edgartown was open through the storm, but had no power and could only sell “shelf-stable” products. Power was back Wednesday, and produce was out, but the company is waiting to add other refrigerated products. Its branch in Vineyard Haven was open, but experiencing some refrigeration issues Tuesday. Both Cronig’s locations were open starting on Tuesday, and didn’t lose power.
The pharmacy at Stop & Shop at the Edgartown Triangle was closed due to a power outage Tuesday, but Vineyard Scripts Pharmacy in Vineyard Haven was open, as well as Conroy Apothecary.
The YMCA in Oak Bluffs had truncated hours Wednesday. Some places, such as the West Tisbury library and Martha’s Vineyard Museum, were opened as warming centers for unhoused Islanders or those who needed a heated place to be due to Island-wide power outages.
“The West Tisbury emergency warming center at the West Tisbury library was open for 50 continuous hours,” Jennelle Gadowski, Dukes County Emergency Management Association public information officer, said. “We had residents from all across the Island come to our shelter.”
Gadowski, who was the shelter manager through the storm, sat at the front desk at the West Tisbury library on Tuesday afternoon with Sharon Brown, the director of homeless services at Harbor Homes, the only local nonprofit that assists the unhoused, and Ilona Metell, a volunteer with Martha’s Vineyard Emergency Community Response Team.
Gadowski said there were a dozen volunteers and more than 50 clients in the warming center, and that it was a rare overnight operation. Usually, warming centers are open during the day, and the Harbor Homes winter shelter in Oak Bluffs is the overnight location offered to people. But the winter shelter at Harbor Homes had a power outage and no generator, so they had to relocate some of their staff and clients. Some guests opted to stay overnight at the shelter, according to Harbor Homes board president Maura Fitzgerald.
Gadowski said emergency services and Harbor Homes “joined forces and helped shelter people who needed it.”
“It was really amazing to see the community come together and support each other,” she added.
Support came through in different ways during the storm, much like how the depth of snow varied from place to place. Some Islanders were on vacation for February school break and had to completely rely on their neighbors to keep their home safe.
Amy Houghton, the chair of the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School Committee, is on a family trip, and while she’s experiencing sunny skies, she said it was extremely worrisome to watch from afar as snow piled on the Vineyard and trees fell.
“Being away was amazing, but it caused a lot of anxiety and nervousness,” Houghton told The Times, “and [I have] such gratitude for the people who were there, because with the power out, you couldn’t see what was going on.”
She read articles from the local papers, and checked the many local webcams, like the livestreams of Five Corners and the Chappy Ferry, for any indication of what was occurring back home. But when the webcam footage went out, she felt blinded by lack of information.
All Houghton knew at that point, she said, was “we had two trees down in our yard and no power.”
So she called on her neighbors. And they showed up. They dripped her faucets, made sure the trees weren’t causing any significant damage, and ensured that Houghton and her family could vacation a bit more peacefully.
“I’m thankful for all the hard work that was done there, and for all of the people who helped us to not feel so anxious about the house,” Houghton said.
The willingness to help and show up for others is as incredible as it is classic Vineyard, and, she said, is a “reflection of the community.”
Editor’s note: Updated to reflect accuracy of Jennelle Gadowski’s role during the storm, the amount of hours the overnight shelter was open, and that Harbor Homes stayed open through a power outage.