New Milford Public Works Department was asking residents to stay off the town roads despite the Governor’s lifting the travel band Tuesday morning. Clean up operations are still under way.
While snow let up earlier Tuesday in the greater New Milford area, it picked up agains mid-morning.
Mayor Patricia Murphy said she thought the precautions taken locally were worthwhile.
“I think they couldn’t tell exactly what the impact was going to be on us with two different fronts coming our way,” Murphy said Tuesday. “It was prudent to be safe.”
Murphy added that the Governor keeping everybody off the roads saved lives, with only 11 accidents reported statewide overnight.
“Right now, I can barely see across my wood lot,” Murphy said at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday. “But nothing extraordinary is happening around the town. Our dispatchers don’t seem overwhelmed.”
Sherman First Selectman Clay Cope, who was overseeing town operations from his hospital room in New Milford Hospital, said that “living in the northwest hills for 24 years, I’d say better to be safe than sorry.”
Cope said Dave Raines, Sherman’s director of Emergency Services, was on top of the blizzard potential from the beginning.
“I feel blessed because in the east of the state, I’m hearing they have 24 to 30 inches and the governor has called out the National Guard to help there,” Cope said. “I think if there’s anything we in the west of the state can do to help our neighbors in the east, we should.”
In Washington, First Selectman Mark Lyon said snow was still falling at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
“We were fortunate,” Lyon said. “They didn’t quite get it right. But they weren’t so far off that I’m going to complain.”
Lyon said he’d meet with his emergency personnel Monday afternoon and everyone was ready to deal with a blizzard. Fortunately, they didn’t have to, he said.
“The good think about all the early talk was that people prepared for the storm early and stayed off the roads during the storm,” Lyon said. “That made it easier for our plow crews. I’m really thankful they weren’t right.”