leon gaumond 2013 masccc

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…


¨  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.


¨  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!


¨  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)


¨  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


¨  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


¨  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


¨  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?



¨  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


Thank you for your attention. Are there any questions?

leon gaumond 2013 masccc

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