Winthrop Faced Power Outages and Water Main breaks in Addition to Heavy Snow with Blizzard

By Adam Swift

Residents and public works crews faced more than heavy snow and wind during Monday’s blizzard.

During the height of the storm, there were 1,500 homes without power and seven water main breaks, causing flooding in a number of yards in the town.

As of late Tuesday morning, power had been restored to all but approximately 50 homes in town, and six of the seven water mains had been repaired, according to Town Council President Jim Letterie.

The outages were concentrated in Fort Heath, Seal Harbor, and along Revere and Main Street, including the Winthrop Housing Authority and surrounding neighborhoods. Areas of Point Shirley also experienced power outages, according to Town Manager Tony Marino.

“During the storm, Winthrop also experienced power outages at the Pressure Relief Valve (PRV) stations (Monday) morning,” Marino stated. “The loss of power disabled the instrumentation that controls the PRVs, causing all three valves to open. This resulted in a pressure spike that led to numerous water main breaks, including in the areas of Marshall Street, Veterans Road, Beal Street, and additional locations.”

The DPW briefly shut down water service town-wide in order to backfeed the system from Deer Island.

Similar to the previous storm, Marino said cleanup is expected to take multiple days, and potentially into next week. He reminded residents to clear sidewalks in front of their homes and businesses as cleanup operations continue.

Residents with questions or concerns about storm cleanup may contact the Town at (617) 846-1852.

During the storm, Letterie declared a state of emergency in Winthrop, a move he said could help with state resources and money for the storm cleanup.

“The bottom line is that it was a crazy day, seven water main breaks, thousands without power, more than that without internet, flooding due to the water breaks, and 15 inches of wet, heavy snow,” said Letterie. “I can’t think (DPW Director) Steve Calla and the Winthrop DPW enough for their monumental efforts along with help from outside contractors and especially MWRA.”

Letterie said streets are in good condition considering the power of the storm with its high winds.

“Winthrop showed its resiliency,” said Letterie. “The process continues as we spend probably a good portion of (Tuesday) working on town buildings and schools.”

State Rep. Jeffrey Turco shared thanks to the residents and town officials.  “This was a blizzard of my youth.  I am grateful to Governor Healey and her team at MEMA, Town Manager Marino, Council President Letterie, and Winthrop’s DPW and Public Safety teams for their preparation, efforts and support.  Thanks also to National Grid for their good efforts to restore power under treacherous conditions.   Finally, thanks to the residents of Winthrop for following the suggestions to stay at home and allow the team to make the Town safe.  Obviously, it is difficult when people lose power, but this storm proved that with teamwork and proper preparation, the pain to our residents can be remediated,” said State Representative Jeffrey Rosario Turco (D. Winthrop)