Massachusetts students across numerous counties found their schools shuttered earlier today, in the wake of a powerful storm that plunged over 130,000 homes and businesses into darkness. Norfolk and Plymouth counties, hardest hit by the outages, saw a slew of school closures along with Bristol, Essex, and Middlesex counties, perpetuating a sense of disruption as communities grapple with the aftermath. With repairs underway, the return to normalcy seems on hold as many schools, including Cohasset and Duxbury Public Schools, remained closed, a detail consolidated by the Boston Globe and MassLive.
Savage winds from Monday's storm devastated the area, causing one of the most serious electrical failures in recent memory. Despite the still flickering signs of life in some of the neighborhoods, the relentless nature of the storm warranted the closing of every institution, from the Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School to the Foxborough Regional Charter School, rendering them powerless to conduct their educational prerogatives as noted on their respective district websites. In a statement highlighted by NBC Boston, Scituate particularly felt the brunt, with 92% of its area still under the cloak of an outage, as recorded by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
Among the institutions, Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro pivoted to remote learning, a digital recourse to the ongoing power outage afflicting their physical grounds, according to their website. Other schools, like Mount Hope Christian School and Sacred Heart School in Kingston, relinquished the hope of holding classes amidst the sweeping blackout, as reported on the schools' public platforms. Municipal efforts to mend the ruptured infrastructure carry on, with recovery expectations stretched thin by the severity of the damage.
Extending beyond the educational sphere, the storm wreaked havoc across New England, with consequential flooding in parts of Vermont and New Hampshire courtesy of a toxic mix of heavy rain and snowmelt—a crisis captured by the National Weather Service's widespread flood warnings. Local officials, such as Scituate Town Administrator Jim Boudreau, batten down the hatches anticipating the long haul to restoration, his sentiments echoing through an interview with WBUR, "It was, I guess, mayhem for a little while, with things just coming down and wires coming down." As families across the state brace for the days ahead, the resumption of a full educational schedule hangs in the balance, contingent on the flick of a switch that remains, as yet, elusive.
