Marcia Chambers Photo
Frozen Farm River
First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove says the town’s main roads remain open and in relatively good shape despite stiff blowing wind and a fast rate of snowfall that quickly descended upon the town and left one foot of snow yesterday.
Snow and wild wind enveloped the town for more than 12 hours yesterday as the state’s first nor’easter bashed the state. Schools were closed and will be closed again today. All school-related evening classes and events are also cancelled this evening.
Today is expected to be brutally cold and the weekend is expected to bring a dangerous freeze, with wind chills bringing temperatures to the 20 below zero area. More snow is in the forecast. Make sure you wear a hat and gloves. Frostbite is the alternative.
“It is always difficult with high winds and blowing snow to keep the roads clear,” Cosgrove told the Eagle. “However, the crews have been working on it steadily, keeping up with it. And given the amount of snow we received, our roads have remained open and in relatively good shape,” he added. In addition to main roads, Cosgrove said crews were clearing areas around the town’s railroad station.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told reporters late yesterday that Metro North and Shore Line East will have normal train service this morning.
Wild Snow Storm
It turns out that by mid-afternoon yesterday, Branford had 12.5 inches of snow, one of the highest snowfalls in the state. In past major storms, power was out for days. This storm produced only one outage in the town of 16,544 Eversource customers as of 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
“The combination between the snowfall and the rate of the snowfall as well as the blowing wind made it very difficult to keep it all completely in control,” Cosgrove said from Town Hall, which was opened yesterday and will be today.
“The crews have been making it passable throughout the storm. We will finish tonight, have them rest and come back early morning. We want to have everything reopened prior to the working commute.” Cosgrove said that in addition to public works, both the Parks and General Government Buildings (GGB) departments were outside yesterday, working to clean up.
Malloy told reporters yesterday that road conditions were still hazardous. By and large few motorists were on the major highways yesterday. Statewide the state police responded to 66 accidents and 330 motorist assists.
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