Springfield officials say up to 80 trucks are being deployed to clear scores of streets blocked by downed tree limbs. New England Public Radio's Kari Njiiri reports the broken trees are hampering efforts to restore electricity to more than half of the city's residents
This is a crew at Springfield's Forest Park cutting downed tree limbs for removal. Crew members estimate about 80 percent of the trees here suffered some kind of damage from the weekend storm. Trees fell and branches broke off in other city parks and heavily wooded areas, but also on just about every street downtown and in Springfield's many neighborhood. Thousands of branches and limbs are blocking sidewalks too. Damage in some areas is so extensive, emergency personnel and utility crews working to repair power lines are still not able to get through. Springfield Public Works director Al Chwalek says more than one hundred streets remain blocked Tuesday. But he says he's optimistic that every street will be cleared by Wednesday evening. Chwalek says debris collectionwill start sometime next week. Residents will be able to gather debris from their property and place it at the curb for removal.
“We’re going to have crews through the month of November coming down every city street and picking up that debris. So you don’t have to worry about disposing it. We’ll come and get it, after we get the streets open. That’s the focus this week.”
The National Guard is also joining the cut-and-clear effort. Chwalek is urging the public not to do it themselves. He says hanging limbs and exposed power lines still pose a safety threat. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Western Massachusetts Electric Company says it could be late Friday or early Saturday before power is back on for all Springfield residents.