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Town manager details storm response: water-plant emergency averted; county and state crews aided plowing
Summary
Town Manager reported on Winter Storm Hernando response: rapid snowfall and high winds strained resources, a temporary generator (1,750 kW) restored a primary water-treatment plant, and state/county crews (deployed after outreach including a call involving Senator Dylan Fernandez) supplemented DPW plowing efforts.
Town Manager Mike Renaw (transcript: Mr. Renaw) provided a supplemental report on the town’s response to Winter Storm Hernando, describing heavy snow rates, utility outages, and recovery operations.
Renaw said the storm’s intense snowfall (reported at about 1.4 inches per hour) combined with high winds stretched plowing resources and made early plowing operations difficult when visibility and wind made bucket-truck repairs unsafe. He described a near-critical failure at the Gifford Street Water Treatment Plant: generator problems interrupted power to the plant but Eversource located and delivered a 1,750-kilowatt generator that was installed and switched over within hours, restoring plant operations. The town had roughly 2–2.5 million gallons in storage with daily usage around 2 million gallons, and restoring the plant averted a potential service shortfall.
Renaw said he requested additional plow crews from state and county partners; he credited Senator Dylan Fernandez for helping secure state-level assistance and thanked the Barnstable County and Berkshire County sheriff’s offices for sending plow crews now active in residential streets. He reported that crews had completed a first-pass plow on about 68% of the town’s roughly 400 lane miles and that Eversource had increased deployed crews (the board discussed a figure of about 138 Eversource crews on the ground). Staff also urged residents to subscribe to the town’s Rave-based Falmouth Alert system for text updates; Mike (staff) explained how to sign up, noted the system is free and can target categories such as snow removal and emergency alerts, and said roughly 20,000 people were subscribed.
Board members and staff emphasized that first-pass plowing prioritizes opening arterials and ensuring access for emergency vehicles, with further cleanup to follow; staff said ambulance dispatches during the event were supported by sending plow trucks ahead to provide access. Renaw said recovery efforts would continue into the next day and staff expected more visible progress on residential streets.
