Chicopee, Holyoke recover from storm

Date: 11/9/2011

Nov. 9, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

and Katelyn Gendron

Reminder Newsroom

GREATER CHICOPEE — The Oct. 29 snowstorm gave the region plenty of tricks but no treats and municipalities will be involved with the cleanup for weeks to come.

In Holyoke, Mayor Elaine Pluta said that 35 percent of the electric customers had lost power and by Nov. 2, that figure was down to about 5 percent.

What affected nearly everyone in the city was the tree damage. Pluta said the estimate was between 60 to 70 percent of the city’s trees had been damaged.

Holyoke residents will be able to pull tree debris to the edge of the street for city pick-up. Pluta said at this point there was no deadline for that service.

The Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Holyoke proved to be an unofficial shelter as hundreds of people from around the region went to the store not just to buy reading material, but to recharge their laptops and to simply get warm.

Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette told Reminder Publications that he now knows more about how the electrical infrastructure works than ever before. The mayor spent a lot of time with officials of Chicopee Electric Light in order to understand why one part of the city took precedent over the others in the restoration of electricity.

He explained choices were made to first make the repairs that would benefit the greatest number of customers. Hampering the operation was the overwhelming amount of tree damage and Bissonnette noted there were many power lines tangled within fallen branches that made the operation much more difficult.

Bissonnette noted that his own home took a while to have its power restored.

He said the city had a “dry run” for this kind of emergency when the microburst hit in the summer and he thanked the many repairs crews from Vermont, Delaware, Connecticut and North Carolina that assisted in the restoration effort.

The mayor announced that regular trash collection and yard waste pick-up will continue this week. The city’s pick-up of tree debris will take place over the next two weeks and city residents can make unlimited trips to the landfill to dispose of branches and other tree waste.



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Residents on the corner of Beech and Dwight streets in Holyoke cheered as they watched Department of Public Works (DPW) crews cut down crippled trees and remove debris on Nov. 2. Sections of Beech Street were closed to traffic throughout the day to clear the wreckage.

Those on Allyn Street weren’t as pleased, however, as they cleaned up fallen trees, leaves and other debris from the sidewalk and street, while avoiding a sagging power line. Motorists were able to drive underneath the line as it sagged from the utility pole on Allyn Street to the front yard of a private residence on Pleasant Street.

“I called Holyoke Gas & Electric three times [about this power line] and they just said, ‘Everyone is busy, just look around you,’” James Rodriguez, a resident of Allyn Street, said. He noted his displeasure with the power company’s inadequate response and attitude toward the safety of residents.

Fallen trees, branches and leaves blanketed the playground at Plains Elementary School on Granby Road in South Hadley. A giant tree was uprooted and fell from inside the playground and over the fence onto Route 202 before being cleared by Nov. 5.

The playscape itself remained practically untouched but caution tape lined several areas of the grounds and remained closed to students throughout the week of Nov. 7. Plains School re-opened to students on Nov. 3.

“It’s remarkable,” Principal Jillayne Flanders said of how the storm debris missed the recreation equipment and only hit a portion of the school’s fence. She noted there was some minor damage to the siding on portable classrooms “but it’s a very easy repair.”

“I’m keeping the playground closed until we can have another tree company come through and take down the broken, split and low-lying branches,” Flanders explained. “I just talked to [Superintendent] Jim Reidy at the DPW in South Hadley and as you know they are very busy and the playground will remain closed to the children [until that work can be completed].”

The students still have access to the baseball field for recess, she added.