US20 Hit Hard by December Ice Storm

An ice storm that came up the east coast of the U.S., starting on Thursday December 11, 2008, hit hard those that live on and around US Route 20. Trees and branches were taken down by the heavy weight of the ice, causing large-scale power outages. Here is an except of one account of the storm in Massachusetts, from an AP press release:

A winter storm pounded New England with pouring rain, sleet and ice, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands across the region, closing schools and roads and prompting Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to declare a statewide state of emergency Friday.

Georgine Sparr, the manager of Flynn's Truck Stop in Shrewsbury, said her customers in central Massachusetts complained of downed trees covered in ice and flooded roads from the storm that began Thursday and moved by late Friday morning.

She fielded dozens of calls from people who woke up in the dark and wanted to know if the Dunkin' Donuts inside the truck stop was open so they could get a warm cup of coffee.

"They got hit with everything at one time, except the snow, thank goodness," Sparr said. "The trees are frozen. Up and down Route 20, there's branches everywhere."

Here is a photo from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette showing some of the damage on one stretch of US Route 20 in Auburn MA:




The US Route 20 Blog homepage can be found here.