Greater Lynn takes up shovels

LYNN – For the second time in a little more than two weeks, a major nor’easter dumped close to 18 inches of snow on Lynn and the North Shore, taking down trees and power lines and leaving the region blanketed with snow once again.Due to the hazardous conditions, Lynn, Peabody, Saugus and Swampscott officials declared that schools in those communities will remain closed today. No details concerning other surrounding communities were available.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said she has been pleased with the job done on city streets. The mayor criticized the job Department of Public Works employees and private contractors did on the Dec. 26 storm.”From what I saw, most of the main streets were looking good, but there were lots of limbs and wires down,” Kennedy said Wednesday. “We received a few complaints from Ward 1 and we have sent additional plow crews to that area.”A skeleton crew, including Kennedy, manned Lynn City Hall throughout the day.”I’m here to answer the phones and help anyone who comes to the door,” the mayor said after accompanying Public Works Director Jay Fink on a snow-plowing tour of city streets.Fink said salt trucks were sent out at 1 a.m. before the snow began falling. “The salt did a good job because the temperature was just at freezing. The plows went out between 5 and 6 a.m. and we’re trying to keep the roads scraped,” he said.School officials had not yet decided Wednesday evening on whether they were canceling school for another day on Thursday, after schools throughout the region and state were closed Wednesday.Fink said Ward 1 seemingly experienced the bulk of power outages in Lynn. He estimated thousands of residents were without power in that neighborhood at some point Wednesday, although National Grid was reporting only 56 Lynn customers without service.”I would have to say 56 customers is an understatement,” Fink said.National Grid also reported there were approximately 76,000 customers without power statewide. On the North Shore, Revere appeared hardest hit with 2,300 customers without electrical service.National Grid spokesman Amy Zorich said more than 150 outages were reported in Saugus, 20 in Nahant and less than 10 in Swampscott.No information was available for Peabody or Lynnfield.Zorich said 600 power crews were working the storm, most of them in Massachusetts, and more were on call.”This is the second major storm we are battling in less than three weeks. We want to assure our customers we have hundreds of crews out working to restore power outages as they occur, but we likely are looking at a multi-day effort for full service restoration,” said Christopher E. Root, National Grid senior vice president of Electricity Operations.Those who depend on electric-powered life support equipment, such as a respirator, should contact National Grid. To register as a National Grid life support customer, call the company’s Customer Service Contact Center at 800-322-3223.All power was expected to be restored Thursday by the end of the business day, said National Grid spokesman David Graves, adding that the original outage impacting 76,000 customers had been reduced to 42,000 by 3 p.m. Wednesday.The blizzard upset countless home and work schedules.Steve Hathaway, a U.S. Post Office letter carrier in West Lynn, dodged plows and jumped snowbanks Wednesday to deliver the mail. He estimated half the homes would receive letters and parcels.”People shovel, it helps,” said Hathaway, clad in multi-layer clothing and a black snorkel mask popularized this year by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.Kennedy decided to keep City Hall open Wednesday, ordering department heads to assign at least one person per office to staff the phones. The emergency parking ban remained in force.Emergency response trucks from Verizon Wireless and National Grid were dispatched to dozens of locations along the North Shore on reports of downed wires. Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency at noon Wednesday.There were multiple spin-o