It's Snow Wonder

Dear Malden Residents: 

I knew my streak of luck of a winter without a major snow storm would eventually end, but never did I imagine that my first serious storm as Mayor would be the fifth worst in Massachusetts history!

Throughout the forecasts, I continued to perform a “rain dance” in the hope that the impending storm might veer east out to the ocean. But when it didn’t, I knew I was going to be in for a long couple of days.

The first day of the storm didn’t seem too bad. It actually looked serene outside my office on the sixth floor of City Hall around noontime. The afternoon into the evening, however, was a different story.

DPW Director Bob Knox picked me up at 9 pm for a firsthand look at what was happening around the city and by then, the storm was in full force. The snow was rapidly intensifying and visibility was near zero. We made it to Public Works where I took the opportunity to thank the men and women in advance for what I knew was going to be a difficult time for our city.

After that, we were back on the road checking on the plowing operation and even finding a few minutes to help the Fire Department shovel out the ramps at Central so that emergency apparatus could respond to calls. By then, Director Knox predicted that it was going to take days to recover from this storm.

He later dropped me home so I could prepare for the aftermath which would take place on Saturday, Sunday, and into the following week. One comical moment came while Mr. Knox was picking me up on Saturday morning to begin our rounds and he got stuck leaving my house. A tow was required which garnered quite a few chuckles from the staff at Public Works.

Once freed, we continued to assist with the plowing operation as the storm did not stop until 4 pm on Saturday afternoon. The good news at that point was no one lost power and only one small tree had come down. Once the storm was officially deemed over, we switched over to the cleanup phase of the operation.

Every available piece of apparatus was redirected to this aspect of the operation. One problem was that by this time several pieces of equipment were down for the count after fighting the ferocity of the storm the night before and during the day Saturday. Thankfully, the City Council has indicated a willingness to support my proposal to replace many of the outdated pieces of equipment at Public Works which should help rectify this problem in the future.

Mr. Knox and I worked through the afternoon and evening except for a moment when he stopped by his home to clean the steps and wave to his two young children through the door. By then, Bobby along with many of his staff had worked 40 hours straight but to my amazement, they remained undaunted by the lack of sleep as they wanted to do the best job they could for the city.

We finally wrapped up around midnight feeling confident that for the most part, the main roads and secondary streets were passable for emergency apparatus to respond if needed. On Sunday morning, Mr. Knox picked me up at 9 am and we focused on the continued cleanup with a focus on the city’s courts, terraces, and parkways. We assisted the staff at the yard with the never-ending phone calls coming in as evidenced by my call sheet.

We were pretty beaten up after leaving the yard around midnight but were confident that with a little bit more time, our city would return to normal. Monday and Tuesday were practically spent 24/7 widening streets and removing snow. We decided that we could remove the Snow Emergency on Monday morning which is always a good sign that things would get better and Tuesday night we made the determination that students could return to school on Wednesday. The reason we waited two days before giving the all clear was that close to 75 percent of our kids walk to school and their safety was absolutely paramount.

A few more calls came in between Wednesday and Friday but for the most part, the worst of the Blizzard of 2013 was over. We spent those days working with property owners to remove snow in front of their homes and businesses, or otherwise, they would be issued fines. This was a concerted effort led by Director of Public Health Chris Webb and the early results prove that this undertaking was successful.

By Friday, one week removed from the storm, we were back to focusing on issues not having to do with snow and believe me, it was a great relief! 

Sincerely,

GARY CHRISTENSON
Mayor, City of Malden