A Near Miss: Blizzard Not So Bad
By Robin Vinci | Editor at January 29, 2024 | 6:30 pm | Print
For days weather forecasters had warned Blizzard Juno would be an historic storm, but once it arrived in New Britain the storm gave about 8-14 inches of snow, with no loss of electricity and occasional moderate to strong winds.
While other cities in Connecticut had up 35 inches of snow, residents across New Britain said they were happy to see the storm avoid a direct hit to the City.
“It was not so bad, thank God!,” said Jacqueline Lux. “I’m thankful that we have lights and heat!”
“No one was impressed with the snow totals,” said Catherine Nyhan Cheney. “I’m glad we dodged the big one.”
“I was looking for more,” said Jennifer Martin.
Blizzard Juno did give New Britain its first chance of working in the new Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the Police Station to work out any kinks.
Mayor Erin Stewart had been working at the EOC for 26 straight hours. On Wednesday morning the EOC closed for good.
“While the storm didn’t quite live up to its billing, it did bring a decent amount of snow and very strong winds,” said the Mayor. “Our Public Works crews did a spectacular job throughout the overnight keeping roads passable.”
Stewart said the whole operations management has changed. Public works staff, parks and recreation staff, water department staff and more worked together using City equipment.
The new storm operations just began this year which breaks down the City into 13 sections. Within each section there are 20 plus plow drivers. The main roads have their own drivers.
“We were monitoring everything from the minute we opened,” said Stewart. “it was a well oiled operation.”
Stewart said because of the 2013 storm, many changes were implemented last winter. But, the crew wanted to do even better this year. There were many City employees involved in pre-planning.
In 2013, some problems that occurred include fire stations not having a plow and a front loader assigned to them. It took the EMS 13.57 minutes to respond to the storm rather than their regular 5.7 minutes.
Another problem was the lack of reliable radio communications. Most of that problem has been fixed with a new radio system the City has put in since the storm.
At issue was also the lack of an updated GPS that make it difficult to assess physical condition and response time.
The plows this year also had chains on. In 2013 many chains were not working and some plows did not have them.
The homeless overflow shelter was open this year. One family called because their oil ran out and did not have heat. The City picked them up and had them stay at LaQuinta Hotel.
The Senior Center was not needed to be opened.
Only about a dozen calls were received. One woman went into labor and was taken to the hospital on time.
“There was a line of doctors waiting for her when we pulled up,” said Stewart.
A CL&P employee was assigned to the City in case electricity was lost.
Stewart said she believes the City is prepared now in case a bigger storm arrives.
“We planned for the worst. I think it is important to plan for the worst and hope for the best. We were on the good side of that this time,” said Stewart. “But in case something does go wrong in the future, we are well prepared to handle that.”
Stewart said the toughest part is when snow falls at a rapid rate and the City loses streets.
“I truly appreciate how seriously our residents observed this parking ban,” she said. “Getting these cars off the streets made the job so much easier for our plow drivers and emergency personnel, making them that much more effective. Thank you all!”
Residents said they much appreciated the City’s the efforts this year.
“I would like to give a big shout out to our Mayor Erin Stewart for being so hands on, being out with our Public Works Dept. monitoring the roads and conditions,” said Miriam Geraci, resident. “We are all blessed that it didn’t hit us as bad as they expected. Her commitment to getting the City up and running as soon as possible is commendable!”
“The plows did a great job on my street which is a dead end and usually done last,” added Kate Splettstoeszer Howard.
“I cannot say enough about the way in which our Public Works and emergency personnel managed this event,” said Mayor Stewart. “They demonstrated just how committed they are to serving the people of this City and I am very proud of the job they did throughout this storm.”
