1

GORDON DANIELS

This is the intersection of Route 9 and South Main Street in Goshen.

2

GORDON DANIELS

Workers from National Grid remove ice-laden branches from power lines on Route 9, Goshen. Earlier Route 9 was closed. This crew came out at 2 a.m.

3

GORDON DANIELS

In the center of Goshen on Route 9 this morning, workers check an ice-laden tree. They decided that tree was OK for now, and went on to areas that were hit harder.

Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency and mobilized 500 members of the National Guard to help clean up the wreckage from an ice storm that electric companies say left 500,000 customers across the state without power. Patrick said it's likely electricity will not be restored in some communities until Monday, at the earliest.

Speaking to reporters at a televised press conference this morning in Framingham, Patrick noted the high winds, heavy rain and icing conditions affecting communities across the state. Conditions are particularly bad in the Hilltowns and other communities at higher elevations.

The worst of the storm impacted western Massachusetts, where Western Massachusetts Electric Company estimated there are more than 20,000 homes without power.

In Goshen, residents lost power around 2 a.m. after ice about an inch thick coated tree branches and power lines. This morning, large tree branches were littered over driveways, roadways and yards across town. Virtually the only vehicles on the roads this morning were emergency vehicles. All night long, the loud, sharp sound of cracking branches could be heard followed by the thud of branches falling.

Even while emergency electric crews were on hand to repair lines, branches could be seen falling around them.

As of 9 a.m. this morning, the towns of Huntington, Becket, Ashfield, Leyden, Cummington, Northfield, Middlefield, Plainfield, Goshen, Chesterfield and Worthington had no power. MassHighway crews started attending to these areas last night, said Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

In addition to MassHighway personnel, Patrick said he has mobilized the National Guard to assist in clean up and debris removal operations. The guard may also help organize evacuations if necessary, he said.

All clean up and shelter efforts combined are expected to cost Massachusetts more than $7 million, Patrick said. If the state passes the $7 million threshold the governor may petition the federal government for emergency assistance.

"For everybody, the best we can do and the biggest help we can be is to stay off the roads," Patrick said. "Let emergency crews do what they have to do."

For the 500,000 customers without power, Patrick said there is help available. Anyone in need of shelter or other assistance in the midst of the storm should call 211, the Commonwealth's primary emergency call center. The phone lines will be open continuously through the emergency and can direct people to services, Patrick said.

Patrick cautioned people who have lost heat not to resort to unsafe heating resources. The governor asked people without heat to seek shelter with friends or family or call the 211 line.

"This is a severe weather event and we are still in the midst of it," Patrick said. "The temperature is expected to go down sharply around mid-day today and to continue well below freezing for the next couple of days. With this much water on the roads and lines down this is not over yet."

Lynn LaFountain, of Wilder Road in Cummington, this morning said she's fortunate to have a gas generator, which is keeping the heat and other necessities on at her home.

"We just have nothing up here at this point," LaFountain said in terms of power and other services.

She noted, though, that the storm has left behind a rather beautiful landscape, it's also wreaking havoc for the town.

Earlier in the night she said she could hear the trees around her home cracking. She said she also is without Internet access.

"It was just an eerie feeling," she said. 

In Leverett, Amherst Road between Juggler Meadow and Depot roads was closed to through traffic after a vehicle spun out into a utility pole Thursday at about 11 p.m. Highway Superintendent Will Stratford said the road was shut down because, even though the pole was still standing and functioning, officials were worried that it might fall.

About half a dozen trees also came down during the storm, but none fell into the roads and only one fell onto utility lines, Stratford said. That occurred on Route 63 near Jackson Hill Road, and the Fire Department responded when those wires caught on fire.

Tree damage was also an issue in Pelham. "The roads aren't the problem," said Pelham Road superintendent Richard Adamcek. "It's the trees that are the problem."

Adamcek said his department, aided by police and fire personnel, was still trying to get some roads reopened Friday morning. A half-inch of ice was still reported in the higher elevations.

"Trees are down everywhere," Adamcek said. "There is no power at the top of the hill."

The problems were localized, depending on elevation, with Shutesbury and Packardville roads among the hardest hit, according to Adamcek.

Stratford said he first got called Thursday at 9:15 p.m. when Shelburne dispatch reported trees had begun to fall under the weight of ice. The department was out all night plowing the roads and doing occasional tree cleanup.

"It's gone OK," Stratford said. "We haven't had any serious damage as far as trees falling on wires."

Stratford said the workers plowed as much as an inch of heavy ice, with the worst of it at the highest elevations in North Leverett.

With the storm winding down, the Leverett Highway Department was working on minor flooding issues and washouts Friday morning.

Like Leverett, Pelham began sanding Thursday night and had enough sleet that plowing was necessary.

"It went back to ice at 1 to 1:30. About 3:30, all hell broke loose," Adamcek said. "We've been going since 10 last night, and we'll probably be going until 10 tonight."

In Hadley, four weather-related accidents were reported starting Thursday evening. The first took place at 7:20 p.m. on Cross Path Road, police said. A vehicle also went off the road on Route 116 Thursday at 10:20 p.m. while another went onto the median at Route 116 at 11:21 p.m., police said

One vehicle needed to be towed after an accident on Roosevelt Street Friday at 2:31 a.m., police said.

Amherst police reported some vehicles off the roads, but no major accidents.

Schools in the Valley were also affected -- even in communities where ice was not a problem, but that are in regional districts with more severely affected towns. A state of emergency in Shutesbury rippled down to towns in the Amherst Regional School District, which closed for the day as a result of Shutesbury's difficulties.

Other closings on Friday included Gateway Regional School District, Greenfield Community College, Hampshire Regional School District, and the Mohawk Trail Regional Schools.

GazetteNET staff writers Scott Merzbach, Mary Carey, Phyllis Lehrer, and Don St. John contributed to this story. GazetteNET will continue to update storm-related developments throughout Friday.