Snow brings more misery for some

Four communities without power want heat and answers

Hannah and Nathan Elbaum with their mother, Deborah Elbaum, of Newton, went sledding in Weston yesterday. (Photos by Michele McDonald/Globe Staff)

FITCHBURG - As snow fell outside her window yesterday, Patricia Parks, a 60-year-old quadriplegic wrapped in fleece blankets, a quilt, and layers of pants and sweaters, tried desperately to stay warm in her freezing house.

"I'm pretty sure I'm frostbitten," Parks said. "Nobody knows how horrible it is in Fitchburg."

Except perhaps the people of Ashby, Lunenburg, and Townsend, three other communities in Central Massachusetts where thousands have been without power since a fierce ice storm took down electrical lines nearly two weeks ago.

In Ashby, townspeople trudged to the fire station to get showers and clean drinking water. In Townsend, a selectman walked to a nearby river to fill buckets with water to flush his toilet. One man said the water in his dog's bowl had frozen.

Yesterday's storm, the second in three days, walloped the state with powerful winds and freezing temperatures, trying the patience of shoppers, drivers, and holiday travelers already weary of the snow and cold, and canceling school in Boston - and in dozens of other communities - today and tomorrow.

But for the people of Central Massachusetts, the storm was another grueling test of their Yankee grit.

"It's pretty much survival mode," said David Rainville, deputy director of emergency management in Ashby, a town of 3,200 people, where more than half of the houses and businesses were without power yesterday.

More than 200 crew members sent by contractors and utility companies as far away as Tennessee fanned out yesterday across the four sapped communities, where 3,700 homes and businesses remained without power.

During a press conference yesterday afternoon, Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong said schools would be closed until Jan. 5. At least 60 people remained in the emergency shelter set up at the senior center, down considerably from late last week, when 300 residents huddled there.

"This is a very trying event and difficult situation. . . . I don't think any of us have seen anything like this," said Wong.

Governor Deval Patrick, who has called for an investigation into why so many people have remained without power, spoke yesterday with officials from all four communities and their energy supplier, Unitil.

"While over 300,000 households have had power restored, the governor and lieutenant governor remain concerned for the close to 4,000 households still without power," Patrick spokesman Kyle Sullivan said in an e-mail.

George Gantz, senior vice president at Unitil, said he welcomed the investigation.

"Any time you have a federal disaster and you have customers without power for an extended period of time, any time that happens, when it's over, you want to do a detailed debriefing, an assessment, and figure out lessons learned," he said.

Officials in the communities said that while power was restored on many streets, many houses remained dark because the electrical lines feeding power to them were down.

Such was the case for Parks, whose daughter burned fire-starting logs in the fireplace so the pipes would not freeze.

Parks said that when she called Unitil to complain that her house was without electricity while people across the street had power, the customer service representative told her to call an electrician.

Parks was furious, a feeling many others shared.

At the Fitchburg press conference, Stephen DiNatale, a Fitchburg representative, lashed out at Unitil and challenged the company's president to spend a night in the beleaguered city.

"I know I'm being emotional, but I've had enough," he said.

Gantz said the company's early response was hampered by the scope of the storm, the severe damage, and limited manpower.

"We won't be resting until everybody is back on," Gantz said. He said 15 service trucks are specifically charged with reconnecting homes to power lines.

None of the communities reported deaths or major injuries related to the outage.

In New Hampshire, most of the 400,000 homes and businesses that lost power during the Dec. 12 ice storm were back on. But about 16,000 customers, who receive electricity from Public Service of New Hampshire, were still without power.

The Granite State's electric companies are facing at least two state investigations into their response to massive power outages caused by the ice storm. The state Public Utilities Commission and lawmakers plan separate reviews after hearing complaints about the way utilities communicated with customers and officials.

New Hampshire officials estimate the ice storm will cost state businesses tens of millions of dollars in damage, lost productivity, and missed sales. Steve Boucher of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development estimates the cost could be over $30 million.

With up to 10 inches of snow expected to fall in the central and western parts of Massachusetts, the grueling conditions brought out the dark side of some residents, who officials said cursed and yelled at Unitil employees trying to make repairs.

But the storm brought out the best in others. In Ashby, about 200 people volunteered to help, baking cookies and brewing coffee for emergency workers, driving as far as Concord, and even Long Island, for extra generators, and checking on elderly and sickly neighbors.

"It's a pretty small, tight-knit community," said Selectman Peter McMurray. "Without neighbors helping neighbors, we couldn't get through this the way we have."

Chris Horan, a spokesman for the Boston Public Schools, said school won't reopen until Jan. 5.

"The mayor and the superintendent are concerned about the icy conditions of the roads," Horan said. "Safety is our first concern, so we thought it was best to close over the next two days so everyone has a safe start to the holidays."

The city received more than a foot of snow over the past three days, and the conditions will remain icy for the morning commute as temperatures plunge into the teens, said Rebecca Gould, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

As of 1 p.m. yesterday, 14.5 inches of snow had fallen at Logan International Airport over the past three days. At least 3.2 inches of snow fell yesterday at Logan, National Weather Service meteorologists said.

There were scattered power outages yesterday as a result of the storm. National Grid, the state's largest power provider, said about 500 customers briefly lost power in Gloucester and Beverly as a result of strong winds. NStar, which provides power to many residents in the Boston area, said about 150 customers briefly lost power in Needham. No new power outages were reported as of early evening yesterday, but the surging winds and wet snow sparked concern there could be more damage.

Gould said the slush from yesterday's wet snow would freeze overnight as temperatures were likely to plunge to a low of 17 degrees. Gould said the morning winds would gust to a high of 46 miles an hour in Boston, and wind chills were expected to drop below zero in the morning.

But things should warm up over the next few days. Gould said the temperatures would reach a high of 29 today, 30 tomorrow, and nearly 50 on Wednesday, Christmas Eve.

At Logan Airport, only two of the six runways were open. Matt Brelis, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, said at least a dozen flights had been canceled.

Floors, chairs, and benches at Logan were filled with luggage and travelers reading, working on laptops, and nervously watching the monitors.

Sacha Johnston was sitting in one of the departure terminals yesterday waiting for a flight to Montreal for the holidays. She had been at Logan since Saturday, when her flight was canceled.

"I didn't expect it to be this bad," she said. "It's not anybody's fault, [but] I only have a short time to be home so I feel pressure to get back on time."

Kendall Kilgure, who attends boarding school at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., was waiting for a flight home to Calgary after her flight was canceled late yesterday afternoon.

"We are on standby, but they said we could be stranded until Tuesday or Wednesday," she said.

Roads around the state were icy and slippery throughout the day and into the night. Celtics forward Glen Davis suffered whiplash and a concussion in an accident on the Mass. Pike yesterday afternoon and was hospitalized at Brigham and Women's Hospital, according to team spokesman Jeff Twiss.

But while State Police and highway officials said there were numerous spinouts throughout the day, they reported no major accidents.

In Taunton, religious leaders canceled a menorah-lighting ceremony; and churches throughout the region canceled or delayed services. In Foxborough, most fans left Gillette Stadium at half-time, when it became clear the Patriots were going to trounce the Arizona Cardinals.

At malls, crowds were small, with only the more desperate shoppers scurrying for gifts the last weekend before Christmas.

"I'm usually a last-minute shopper," said Matt Soares of Whitinsville, who was at the Natick Collection.

Scott Willhaus of Somerville said the weather motivated him to shop.

"I'm Christmas's biggest fan and the weather these past few days has put me in a festive mood," he said, walking through CambridgeSide Galleria.

But for those in Central Massachusetts, there has been little holiday cheer.

"It doesn't feel like Christmas here," said Rainville, the Ashby deputy director. Rainville has a generator powering his house, but he has not turned on his Christmas lights out of respect for neighbors without light and heat.

"I don't want to slap it in their faces," Rainville said. "I don't want to give anyone else hard feelings."

David Abel, Julian Benbow, and Monique Walker of the Globe staff and Globe correspondents Emily Canal, Andrew J. Keegan, and Terry M. Schwartz contributed to this report.