Sunday, February 10, 2013

Middletown Digs Out: Blizzard 2013

Middletown received around 36" inches of snow Friday night into Saturday morning. Luckily, there have been no reported casualties in the area. Staff at the Insider would like to thank the Public Works Department, first responders, fire departments, police, dispatchers, and all others involved in the clean up that is taking place around the clock as we speak.


reader submitted photo of City plows.
reader submitted, high drifts
reader submitted photo, person is 6 ft- snow very high
Little information has come from the Mayor's office as what strategy was followed or what is going on. Nothing on the city website at this time gives any clue, until a post today at 3:30 today. It appears this storm is not as bad as far as power outages & ice as the 2011 snow storm which left many without power  for up to five days. Other towns have updates on local news networks and their city websites, but so far little communication other than a robo call late this afternoon has emerged. , Mayor Drew spoke with Patch editor Cassandra Day and says all roads should be cleared by the end of today. Many residents have reported that their streets have not been plowed at all- over 50 comments have been posted to that article & we have received dozens of emails.

  Downtown is plowed, with a snow pile down the center line of the street being over fifteen feet in height. Several payloaders are loading snow and digging out parking stalls & sidewalks along Main Street. Middletown Public Works have plowed the parking garage adjacent to the courthouse. Residents report that Carabetta's truck (owners of the apartment complexes) sent to plow out Woodbury Circle and Summer Hill  got stuck on the city road into the complex and is unable to be towed out. Several  neighborhoods such as Julia Terrace, Long Hill Estates, Milardo Lane, Lawn Ave., Bailey Road, Maromas, Smith Street, Windy Hill, Cranberry Lane,Brush Hill area, Coleman Rd., and dozens of others have not been plowed. Main arteries close to the city center such as High Street, South & East Main, Randolph Road, Saybrook Road, Russel Ave., Middle Street, Newfield, Washington, and Main were cleared first, with off-shoots remaining unplowed until today. Highways are cleared allowing those who commute outside of the city to go to work on Monday that is if they can get to the highways. Whether all local roads will be passable is still a concern for many at this time.


Blogger SteadyJohn, Washington Street view.
Needless to say, tensions among citizens are running high and reports from City Yard say snow plow drivers are exhausted, but managing and doing the best they can. We appreciate the effort from the plow drivers and encourage readers to be patient. Help your neighbors & stay safe. The Patch reported that the City has two snow plow trucks broken down. In the Patch articles,  In comments on the Patch, people are saying that the City declined to hire private contractors  in anticipation of the storm, that is why things are taking longer than they could have because of staffing levels, others say the delay is shear volume of snow and no amount of preparedness could have changed the outcome. Still others contend because central Connecticut typically does not get this much snow, unlike say Rochester NY or northern Massachusetts, and local equipment is unable to handle this volume of snow - more continuous efforts would have been futile.
readers submitted photo
reader submitted photo



reader submitted, Woodbury Circle unplowed.
reader submitted photo
A message from Councilwoman Kleckowski's (who sits on the Public Safety Committee) facebook page: Good Morning! I have received all your texts, emails and phone calls about your concerns that your roads are not plowed. I have contacted Mayor Drew. Please try to be a bit more patient. I will forward to you any information. Be safe!  Councilwoman Deborah Kleckowski

Many citizens have reported to us that they did not hear plows at all until Sunday or have still yet to see them in their neighborhood. Some criticize that if plows had run continuously throughout Friday night, instead of waiting til the end of the storm as it appears according to residents' accounts we received, they believe things could have gone smoother.  In a robo call at 3:35 pm Sunday, Mayor Drew told residents in the recording that plows have been running since Friday morning around the clock, 85% of streets are cleared, and  he asked everyone to stay off the streets until further notice.
Brush Hill neighborhood, reader submitted
 In Mayor Drew's latest statements on the City website and to Patch he blames pedestrians and  people not obeying the City parking ban as to why clean up has taken longer than expected.
 Bottom line: there is 36 inches of snow out there and no place to put it!  Certainly, a post analysis is called for.

Readers: Please send us your snow photos: middletowninsider@gmail.com.
What do you think of the clean up strategy? Post a comment here or on the Patch articles:
 http://middletown-ct.patch.com/articles/snow-4a1ad139

Thank you to Patch Editor Cassandra Day for the on-going coverage- 7 pm.UPDATE: Mayor Drew has stated to Patch 100% of streets are passable at this time. http://middletown-ct.patch.com/articles/s-ced44c1f#photo-13325207

The City of Middletown Office of Emergency Management's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/City-of-Middletown-CT-Office-of-Emergency-Management/456465817737649
Last message from OEM: "Attention: Middletown Residents please bear with the plowing, any further question or comment please contact 860-347-2848"

10 comments:

  1. Bye-bye Dan.

    People want results, not excuses.

    http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/The-312/February-2011/Snowpocalypse-Then-How-the-Blizzard-of-1979-Cost-the-Election-for-Michael-Bilandic/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Russell St., a main artery between East and South main is still nearly impassable. Many other side streets and connecters are also impassable or nearly so. During a 40 min. drive around town, we saw NO snow plows at all. If they are looking for someplace to put it all, how about the CT River? Wadda ya expect from a democrat?

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  3. Democrat is a proper noun!

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  4. This was a unique storm. I think Middletown got 36 inches. I had to laugh when I saw Vets park plowed out and the sidewalks near Spencer School clean, yet every side street had not seen a plow. Funny how the Wesleyan University campus was clean by noon, while the rest of Middletown was a mess. St. Pius' Church parking lot looked like it was a July day, with many city residents having to park there.

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  5. St Pius' Church hires a private contractor. Has nothing to do with City!

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  6. The plow drivers are doing the best they can. They work hours on end, with only a 3 hour break.
    Dumb and Dummer, Dopey Dans, told the people on TV at about 4:00 on Sat. that the streets were safe nd sufficiently cleared. We all know, that to be an outright lie. Hopefully this lie will remain on the voters minds come election time, but I doubt it.

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  7. Where are the National Guard with their equiptment that were so helpfull during the blizzard of 1978 and the ice storm in 1973.

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  8. Mayor Drew you certainly dropped the ball!!! freakin main street has its parking spots shoveled out but people can't get out of there homes? r u smokin crack? yeah there is a friggin lot but if it was done over time it would not be a disasterr!

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  9. Why is Hickory circle not plowed at all hundreds of people are trapped home if people need medical help or anything they will die cause our town forgot us and left us for dead three days and not one single plow how is this possible who is in power I have lost all respect for the incompetent people who can't even make an effort to pass through now its going to rain on it will these so called workers do my driveway clean my car and make it so I can get to my house again I would fire whoever is in power if they had any brains they would have at least made one pass down every street first how many people have died at the hands of idiots when will it end

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  10. My father-in-law had the patent on a snow melting machine built on a jet engine that was used in the 70's to clear airport runways. Maybe that's an idea that needs to be revisited.

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