The spring storm knocked down trees, cut off power and internet access, and canceled school up and down the county.
“The response is good. We have- National Grid’s up there, we have tree services up there, but we do not have power," David Whitbeck told WAMC. "It's been out since 10 o'clock yesterday morning.”
Whitbeck is the Senior Chief of Police of Mt. Washington, the smallest community in Berkshire County with around 150 residents. Tucked into the southwestern corner of Massachusetts, the “Town Among the Clouds” sits in a valley framed by four mountains 2,000 feet above sea level.
“Well, in our town, there's really- We don't have a police department, we don't have a fire department, pretty limited emergency management," the chief explained. "So, people are, unfortunately, kind of on their own. But most people that live in town realize that.”
Whitbeck spoke with WAMC while out responding to the storm.
“Right now, I'm cutting trees out of people's driveways so they can, when we get cleaned up and the storm stops, they can they can access the highway,” he told WAMC.
He says Mt. Washington residents are used to harsh weather and resultant outages.
“It means that you hunker down until they get it fixed," said Whitbeck. "A lot of people have generators, but other than that, some of the roads are impassable. So yeah, it's just a good old storm, you know, spring storm. That's what happens.”
While the winds have died down, Mt. Washington has a long road ahead before conditions improve.
“We're still getting pretty heavy snow," said Whitbeck. "We got five inches of snow and sleet on the ground. We had quite a bit of ice build up during the day yesterday. I'm sure all the hill towns are probably in the same shape. So yeah, we're just waiting for some sunshine.”
For now, Whitbeck says residents should avoid the roads until they’re cleared of hazardous conditions.
“If you're out driving around, and you get in trouble- Shame on you, you shouldn't be out on the roads right now,” he said.
50 miles north of Mt. Washington, Berkshire County’s second smallest community was also recovering from the storm Thursday morning.
“We had a couple of trees down on Route 7, that was closed for a period of time yesterday with a tree down," New Ashford Fire Chief Frank Speth told WAMC. "A couple of trees down with wires. Road conditions are pretty, pretty bad, especially the secondary roads.”
Speth describes the scene as “pretty messy” at its peak. The town of around 250 is set between Lanesborough and Williamstown on Route 7, one of Berkshire County’s major north-south thoroughfares.
“We were pretty set with resources," said Speth. "We have two engine companies and we have a tanker. But we had five personnel at the station, so we weren't particularly overwhelmed, but it could it could have been a lot worse. We could have been- If it was more calls in town, we would have been overwhelmed, but at that time, we didn't have too much going on where we couldn't handle it.”
Like Whitbeck in Mt. Washington, Speth advises caution.
“Stay home if you don't have to go out," he told WAMC. "Stay off the roads and just stay home and you know, just watch the snow come down.”
At the very top of Berkshire County, the town of Florida and its roughly 700 residents is perched along the Mohawk Trail 1,900 feet above sea level. Town administrator Joan Lewis says this storm was unique.
“I think it played a joke on us, because it was so funny that I had like a couple of feet in front of my three entrance doors, so I just picked up the snow and carried it like two feet over, and there was hardly any snow," she laughed. "It was actually like grass. So, it was one of those snowstorms that you're just like, okay, who's doing the joke.”
Like other Berkshire communities set off the beaten path and subject to the vicissitudes of New England weather, Lewis has weathered similar spring storms in the past.
“It's just living up north," she told WAMC. "We had a couple people move in from out of state up on Florida Mountain, and the one thing I did advise them is, our winters, because we're on top of the mountain, are a little rougher than 20 minutes down the road to North Adams.”
While the worst is over, the winter weather is persisting into Thursday.
“It's still coming down, and we've got really big flakes," said Lewis. "All the windows, because of the wind that had happened, like, if you have screens on your window, it's covered with snow, so it's hard to see outside on a lot of places I noticed when I drove myself into work today, that the wind must have had a big impact last night. But today it's just beautiful, huge snowflakes. And I'm glad they closed the school to keep people safe, because it is very slick, it's still very slick out there even though the roads are being kept up. But you know, it's a lot of snow.”
A winter storm warning for Berkshire County remains in effect until Friday morning.
