RAIN & ICE LINE WORCESTER AND SOUTH

Gary Cyr · Post by **Gary Cyr** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 8:36 pm

It's just awful hearing all the damage done to Massachusetts courses by the ice. It sounds like people a little further North fared even worse.

As a contrast we played at Buff the last 2 days for Joe Birthday and regular league. You could have played in sneakers. I've seen more damage to the course, done from strong thunderstorms in the summer. Buffumville can't be more than 8-10 miles South of Pyramids.

I know I'm not gonna like it next time I go to Pyramids.

Arty Graustein · Post by **Arty Graustein** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 12:43 pm

Just curious how the rest of you out there are doing. Anybody else still without power like myself? I know sounds like a silly question, but I am typing this from work.

Luke Adolph · Post by **Luke Adolph** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 1:10 pm

I've been housing some friends who live in Tyngsboro, they have not had power since Thursday Night. I'm fully powered up in Lowell but houses/businesses just a quarter mile away are without power.

John Hart · Post by **John Hart** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 1:18 pm

We are still without power, heat, phone & water since Thursday night. My cell phone also does not work well from home and had additional connectivity problems over the weekend. I assume because the tower I connect to was experiencing problems. The novelty ran out quickly. Our closest family is the same conditions, but they got a generator yesterday, fired it up and found they had busted pipes in the attic when the water started showering down through the ceiling.
Harvard got hit really bad, but you drive 2 towns east to Acton and there was nothing.

John Borelli said Devens did not get hit too bad, which I find hard to believe, but that's great if it didn't.

Steve Solbo · Post by **Steve Solbo** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 2:10 pm

Friday morning it was 65 degrees and raining at my house... I work in Worcester some of the time, with a couple of co-workers that live in the Burncoat section of Town and they got SLAMMED. National Guard was walking their neighborhood with rifles to stop looters.

Whomever got hit with this event badly, I wish you the best in your recovery to normalcy.

Arty Graustein · Post by **Arty Graustein** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 2:10 pm

I find that hard to believe myself seeing how I just live 20 minutes away from Devens. Its weird. It appears as if like the higher elevations got hit the worst. My sister lives out in Deerfield (pioneer valley territory) and they are doing fine. Yet just east of them the towns got pummeled. I feel for you John and I can definitely relate. They are telling us it may be a week or two before we are up in running.

Steve Solbo · Post by **Steve Solbo** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 2:13 pm

Arty wrote:I find that hard to believe myself seeing how I just live 20 minutes away from Devens. Its weird. It appears as if like the higher elevations got hit the worst. My sister lives out in Deerfield (pioneer valley territory) and they are doing fine. Yet just east of them the towns got pummeled. I feel for you John and I can definitely relate. They are telling us it may be a week or two before we are up in running.

Arty, you hit the nail on the head.

I look out my office window right now in Downtown Worcester, and I can see no damage to the south.. downhill... if I look North.. even 1000's of yards away... CARNAGE.

There was an ever so slight elevation that cooled the air to a certain temp.. and if you were at the elevation.. devestation.

Jeff Zipkin · Post by **Jeff Zipkin** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 2:37 pm

we got blasted in the Capital District of NY too. I lost many big branches including a 60' long 18" diameter monster across my driveway.
Was out of power from Fri morn to Sat night. At its worst, there were 230,000 households out of power in the area.

Arty Graustein · Post by **Arty Graustein** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 2:43 pm

There's been reports of looting in Fitchburg and Westminster as well. People are stealing generators while they are still running outside of people's homes. Pretty bold if you ask me.

Arty Graustein · Post by **Arty Graustein** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 2:46 pm

Steve the name of my street is Highview Street. :roll:

Sean Franchi · Post by **Sean Franchi** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 7:27 pm

minimal damage at flatrock. maybe a days work give or take. lots of 1 foot diameter pines down and pine tops and one big birch top.
we got lucky here.
Arty, i heard your house got hit by a good sized tree ? are you guys ok ?

Jim Bobka · Post by **Jim Bobka** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 6:16 am

I talked to Arty yesterday; he said a tree ripped the lines out of his house and damaged the eves. They're living at his inlaws up the street with full power.

We got power yesterday approx 3:30 PM. We fared well being campers and all; cooked over the wood stove, plenty of oil lamps, gathered water from the Ware River to flush toilets and stored food outside in coolers lined with the ice off the trees.

I'll check out Barre Falls today on my way home; the rangers told me they had alot of trees come down.

Hope everyone is fine. --jimbo

Arty Graustein · Post by **Arty Graustein** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:34 am

Thanks for the concern guys. Sorry Jim I forgot to call you back last night. I’ll give you a ring tonight. I got busy doing things at the house. I’m still without power, but not in bad shape overall. The tree that came down avoided my house, but pulled the powerline going to it down which in turn ripped the eave off the house. Luckily the line itself stayed intact and there was no damage to the roof itself. Also it ripped the line off my house, not out of my house so that is a good thing. My neighbors and I were able to get the debris off the line on Saturday. On Sunday I had contractor come over and we were able to get the eave back on the house and the line itself secured as it was prior to the storm. So now it is just up to the electric co. to come do their job. As Jim said I’ve been staying at my in-laws at nights since Saturday and my family and I have been able to take warm showers and eat good meals so I can’t complain. We did have a little scare last night when their power went out at their place for about 4 hours, but luckily it came back on. Good to see you got your power back on Jim. Franch are you at full power at your place?

Leslie Charles · Post by **Leslie Charles** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:50 pm

Our town and surrounding ones got hit really hard (and down off the hill no damage). We're still without power but at least we have a wood stove. I'm missing having water--bringing water up from the next town down is getting a bit tiring. Our neighbors got electricity last night, so crossing our fingers we will soon. At least we have phone service. (oh yeah, we're 30 minutes west of Northampton, MA in what is known as the Hilltowns)

Jay Ducharme · Post by **Jay Ducharme** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 1:07 pm

Arty wrote:Just curious how the rest of you out there are doing. Anybody else still without power like myself? I know sounds like a silly question, but I am typing this from work.

I was sorry to see the mess Jason has to contend with, and I fear several other courses will have similar damage. I was shocked at how many communities were affected. From my Holyoke/Westfield area, you would never guess that a big chunk of New England got hammered. We got rain and nothing else. But my sister in central Mass. still can't go back to her home. And just east of where I live, entire towns are still without power. Nature is very capricious.

Leslie Charles · Post by **Leslie Charles** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 8:26 am

We just got our electricity back on last night! It's amazing how exciting turning lights on and off, doing dishes, flushing toilets, and tackling our laundry can be!

Matt Stroika · Post by **Matt Stroika** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:08 am

Has anyone heard from Keema at the Highlands?

Arty Graustein · Post by **Arty Graustein** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:51 am

Congratulations Leslie! Must be a great feeling to have your power back. We're still out and they are projecting it could still be a week or more before we get it back. Good news though is last night I got a bigger generator hooked up and hardwired to my breakers so the house is inhabitable again. Looks like just in time too. We got 3 inches of snow so far today and they are projecting 6 to 10 more coming on Friday. They never got the powerlines cleared off our street. Praying that the plows don't do even more damage when/if they make a pass at our road today. Good times...

John Hart · Post by **John Hart** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:44 am

leslie wrote:We just got our electricity back on last night! It's amazing how exciting turning lights on and off, doing dishes, flushing toilets, and tackling our laundry can be!

I enjoyed the same experience last night! Except I didn't get to any laundry or dishes yet. I still found myself carrying around my flashlight though. 6 days was 6 days too many.

Arty Graustein · Post by **Arty Graustein** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 9:40 am

Congrats to you too, John! Today is day 7 and we're still without power. Also still no sign of a utility truck in my neighborhood yet. Unitil reported yesterday that all the primary lines in our city should be completed by tonight. However the secondary lines (i.e. me) may take until after Christmas.

Had some generator issues last night, but thankfully a neighbor came by to lend a hand and we got it going again. I love my neighbors!

Arty Graustein · Post by **Arty Graustein** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:10 am

The phrase that keeps being repeated in my neck of the woods that Unitil should be concerned about is “class action lawsuit.” Thousands in North Central MA still without power particularly in the communities that Unitil serves. It got so bad over the weekend they had to beg National Grid for help. There was a crew from Ohio working on my street (finally) yesterday in blizzard like conditions. Those guys are my heroes. My power came back this morning – 11 days – Christmas comes early!

Pete Nevius · Post by **Pete Nevius** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:38 am

Wow, Arty. Glad to hear you're back on the grid. You're thicker-skinned than I am - I would've been living in a hotel somewhere for the last week.

Steve Solbo · Post by **Steve Solbo** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:58 am

Arty wrote:The phrase that keeps being repeated in my neck of the woods that Unitil should be concerned about is “class action lawsuit.” Thousands in North Central MA still without power particularly in the communities that Unitil serves. It got so bad over the weekend they had to beg National Grid for help. There was a crew from Ohio working on my street (finally) yesterday in blizzard like conditions. Those guys are my heroes. My power came back this morning – 11 days – Christmas comes early!

Wasnt for lack of trying from Unitil though...

I heard they were calling ALL over for help, I personally know a couple guys on the North Shore that were assisting up there and in NH... as of Saturday they had alot of people back up.. and were getting calls from Unitil to help...

the problem is that alot of the guys they called probably wouldnt have been able to work according to OSHA standards, due to lack of sleep..

friend of mine was doing... 18 and 6's as he liked to call them.. 18 hours on... 6 hours off...

Arty, glad to hear all is well and you are back and powered up.

Arty Graustein · Post by **Arty Graustein** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:27 am

Thanks Steve. Don't get me wrong, I know Unitil was doing everything they could. I just think (and several thousand people agree with me) that they dropped the ball initially when it came to our area. Took them a good four days to swallow their pride and start asking for help from all over. I have much admiration, gratitude and respect for the work crews pulling those 16 hours in way less than ideal conditions. My neighbors and I were giving them hot coffee and hugs yesterday. Sad to think that most of them will most likely be spending their Christmas away from home just to help us out. On my way into work this morning I pulled over when I saw a crew working by route 2 just to say "thank you." You see its not the crews that I have a beef with it is the upper level management of Unitil that I despise. There is no way a city the size of Fitchburg shouldn't be fully restored after 11 days. Especially when our sister city, Leominster, were 90% back after 2 days. I don't think its any coincidence that Unitil doesn't serve them. National Grid does. The same company that had workers that I pulled over to say thank you to this morning. The state politicians are starting to take notice. I heard we were the top story on the Boston networks last night.

Steve Solbo · Post by **Steve Solbo** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:42 am

Arty wrote:Thanks Steve. Don't get me wrong, I know Unitil was doing everything they could. I just think (and several thousand people agree with me) that they dropped the ball initially when it came to our area. Took them a good four days to swallow their pride and start asking for help from all over. I have much admiration, gratitude and respect for the work crews pulling those 16 hours in way less than ideal conditions. My neighbors and I were giving them hot coffee and hugs yesterday. Sad to think that most of them will most likely be spending their Christmas away from home just to help us out. On my way into work this morning I pulled over when I saw a crew working by route 2 just to say "thank you." You see its not the crews that I have a beef with it is the upper level management of Unitil that I despise. There is no way a city the size of Fitchburg shouldn't be fully restored after 11 days. Especially when our sister city, Leominster, were 90% back after 2 days. I don't think its any coincidence that Unitil doesn't serve them. National Grid does. The same company that had workers that I pulled over to say thank you to this morning. The state politicians are starting to take notice. I heard we were the top story on the Boston networks last night.

I hear ya, and you hit the nail right on the head... Upper Level Management is the main problem...

Little insight... I do alot of work for Grid. Matter of fact we are doing a couple LARGE projects for them right now... to think Unitil's upper's were MIA... So were Grids... could have been the root of the issue right there.. we are trying to to unrelated stuff for them.. and they seriously went missing.. couldnt get ahold of ANYONE to make decisions... crazy.

JohnT · Post by **JohnT** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 1:28 pm

Arty wrote: Especially when our sister city, Leominster, were 90% back after 2 days. I don't think its any coincidence that Unitil doesn't serve them.

Maybe if Fitchburg didn't beat Leominster on Thanksgiving you guys would have gotten your power back first.

Bobby Direnzo · Post by **Bobby Direnzo** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 1:53 pm

John Tserpes wrote:
Arty wrote: Especially when our sister city, Leominster, were 90% back after 2 days. I don't think its any coincidence that Unitil doesn't serve them.

Maybe if Fitchburg didn't beat Leominster on Thanksgiving you guys would have gotten your power back first.

Maybe they should of had some Gernades before the game. :lol:

Arty Graustein · Post by **Arty Graustein** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:59 pm

Maybe if Fitchburg didn't beat Leominster on Thanksgiving you guys would have gotten your power back first.

If I knew this ordeal was going to be the consequence of that action I would have tackled the kid going in for the winning TD in OT myself.
Thanks 'zerp. I needed a good laugh today.

JohnT · Post by **JohnT** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 3:50 pm

**Breaking News Story** Leominster residents pay off utility workers to stay away from the town of Fitchburg. There is a report of one resident whos name wants to anonymous(Gags), gave one utility worker 50 dollars to stay away from the Mayors house, and was qouted " Those bastards beat us on Thanksgiving and I hope they freeze in the cold. Damn it, I hate Fitchburg". One loss on Thanksgiving for one town equals misery for another. Back to the studios with live anchor Bob Direnzo.

Bobby Direnzo · Post by **Bobby Direnzo** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 3:55 pm

Great story! Well Johnnnyy boy this is what we expect this week.. Hopefully by the end of the week we will see this snow melt away and give those Disc golfers a chance to get out and play without 2ft of snow. :lol:

Today
Mostly sunny and bitter cold. Highs 17-26. Wind chills. 0-10. Blowing snow with a WNW wind 18-25 mph and higher gusts.

Tonight
Mostly clear and breezy. Lows 5-15.

Tuesday
Morning sun, afternoon clouds. Highs in the upper 20s.

Wednesday
Guess Santa doesn't want to fly in the snow. Rain moves in with temps near 50.

Thursday
With nearly 2 feet of snow on the ground, it should still be a pretty white Christmas. Maybe not everywhere, but I'm sure there's a snow pile you could look at. Becoming sunny with highs in the upper 40s.

Friday
Sun and clouds with a chance of showers. Highs in the lower 40s.