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Town of West Boylston
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Town of West Boylston 127 Hartwell Street
West Boylston, MA 01583 [email protected]
Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette
¨ The entire town lost power during the event ¨ Most roads and streets were impassable ¨ State of Emergency declared by Town and State ¨ Extremely dangerous conditions continued for
at least three full days and in some areas of town was much longer.
¨ All of Central Massachusetts was impacted
Town of West Boylston 4
Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette
West Boylston
Source: HCTV
Not much better in West Boylston…
Town of West Boylston 6
Town of West Boylston 7
¨ Lost all power from regional grid at midnight Thursday
¨ Operations and office staff mobilized Thursday night
¨ Emergency Operations Center established ¨ First mutual aid crews arrived on Friday ¨ Notification to elected officials, appointed
staff/employees and media
¨ The scope of the damage was massive ¨ The entire town and every electric customer
lost power for some time ¨ Most streets had to be cleared before
restoration could commence. ¨ Governor Patrick and legislative leaders
visited the region on Monday Dec 15 (Day 4) because of the heavy damage in the area
¨ Time was of the essence ¨ It was very cold, with temperatures ranging in
the 30’s during the day and teens at night, often even lower
¨ Two snowstorms totaling 26” during the 12 day recovery period.
¨ Holiday season was quickly approaching.
¨ DPW man-hours fighting storm in first 7 days: 840 hours
¨ Sand used: 194 cubic yards ¨ Salt used: 64 cubic yards ¨ DPW Cost in first 7 days: roughly $47,000 ¨ Police costs not reimbursed to the Town: nearly
$3000.
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¨ Total FEMA submissions from Town – about $527,000 of which we were reimbursed nearly $400,000.
¨ Total brush costs = $418,000 of which we paid $94,244.
¨ This was nearly a $1 million event for West Boylston!
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¨ Fire Dept. man-hours fighting storm: 800 hours ¨ Seven (7) days of ice storm emergency response
mode (storm related emergency calls, assist with road clearing, cellar pumping, etc.)
¨ Example: Call volume: 75 calls for service in 5 days (50 cellars pumped, 4 fire calls, 19 EMS calls, 2 motor vehicle accidents)
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¨ Damage to FD vehicles from storm $3,000.00 (not covered by insurance due to deductibles)
¨ During 2008-09 Burning season issued 526 outdoor burning permits (each requiring an on-site inspection prior to issuance). Prior year we issued 383 outdoor burning permits
¨ Municipal Fire Alarm system: replaced over 4,000 feet of down fire alarm cable, spent over 80 man hours on repairs
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¨ Established emergency shelter at WB Middle-High School on December 12th, Shelter open 24 hours/day through December 18th
¨ 18 Volunteers utilized to staff shelter, 12 National Guardsman
¨ 190 hours of donated time to staff/manage shelter ¨ $2,633.00 in food purchased, $1,800.00 in food
donated (estimated). Total food and supplies cost/value $4,450.00
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¨ Significant work to be done ¡ Replaced 30 poles ¡ Replaced 8000 feet of wire
¨ Two utilities rotated their crews so we could have 17 different people here during the storm event
¨ 7 mutual aid companies provided assistance ¡ Assistance is available under a longstanding
agreement under the New England Public Power Association (NEPPA)
¨ Many, many customers needed to have their individual services restored
¨ Damage at the house, at street, or both ¨ Labor intensive - average restoration time
per connection was about an hour
¨ Resources were in great demand as adjacent cities and towns also required assistance
¨ Mutual aid companies and independent contractors from across the region, some from hundreds of miles away, were sought out and utilized
¨ Some contractors were only available when released by other utilities – National Grid, NSTAR, etc.
¨ Town entered into regional contract for brush removal with DCR after the event due to the Asian Longhorned Beetle infestation ¡ 1294 tons of brush ¡ About 1400 hangers ¡ 29 trees removed ¡ Nearly 590 hours of monitoring costs Totaling $418,356.33 of which the Town was
responsible for over $94,000!
¨ It is difficult to estimate the impact of the ice storm had on our tree cover in town however the Tree Warden and I estimate the number of trees lost in the ice storm number in the THOUSANDS.
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So what did we learn: ¨ West Boylston needs extensive work on its
INTERNAL communications systems ¡ Our system is BROKEN and needs to be replaced ¡ It could be very expensive ¡ We are looking at regional dispatch
¨ West Boylston needs backup plans for EXTERNAL communications ¡ Reliance on local media failed the Town in some
respects ¡ How do citizens know where to turn for
information? ¡ Sign boards needed everywhere ¡ Positive issue: people relied on our website and blog
for information
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¨ Shelter issues ¡ Concerns about notice to public – We Have A
Shelter??? ¡ Resources not readily available and not sufficient in
many ways – including volunteers and quality of food products
¡ Need to explore regional shelter ¡ Background checks for volunteers ¡ Transportation to the shelter?
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¨ Public safety HQ/EOC not adequate ¡ Building not set up for command center ¡ Not enough space ¡ Inadequate supplies
Improved plan to staff Light Office during off-hours and insuring that the phone system there is operational.
¨ Emergency planning: Citizens had done little planning in advance. REPC established a goal to work on emergency kits with citizens that we met
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Thank you for your attention. Are there any questions?