Governor Charlie Baker, speaking from Mass. Emergency Management bunker in Framingham, has lifted the driving ban, but only in the Western parts of the state.
The governor says it’s now safe to drive on roads in Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Berkshire counties.
“We are really at this point dealing with two storms,’ said Baker, “There’s a storm west of Worcester that’s pretty moderate, manageable and pretty well dealt with and there’s a storm Worcester East.”
That eastern storm could still bring up to 10 more inches this afternoon and evening, the governor says. He did say driving is still banned on all parts of the Mass Pike. The MBTA remains closed.
Driving in the Eastern past of the state, especially in and around Greater Boston, is prohibited.
The National Guard’s Major General Scott Rice says he¹s deployed 300
troops, but they’re doing less rescue and assistance than they did overnight.
“We¹re shifting into health and welfare checks and starting to
think about recovery afterwards, helping get the roads cleared, any trees
down, things like that,” said Rice.
The National Guard is checking areas with flooding and power outages, especially Nantucket to decide whether to ferry resources and supplies.
MEMA is focusing on the coast and flooding and outages there.
Nantucket Island is 100% out of power. Evacuated 11 people from flooded
areas to their shelter. Cell phone coverage has gone down.
Emergency communications between many police, fire, and emergency medical transports in Barnstable County on the Cape have been reported in disarray.
It's unknown if this is due to power issues, ice, or structural damage.
Still, as Baker has pointed out, there have been no known deaths or injuries.
Duxbury, Hull, Marshfield, Scituate, and Quincy experienced roadway flooding due to high tides.
The next high tide is 4pm. National Guard troops have been deployed, primarily to Scituate, Hull, and Marshfield.
