Hopefully, you are safe and sound checking your Facebook from your sofa inside your house, because in case you haven’t noticed, there is a blizzard going down around here. Here is some storm-related information, including cancelations and trash pick-up schedule changes.
The winter storm is well underway, and the Tri-Town area has entered the blizzard conditions time period issued by the National Weather Service, which began at 7 p.m. and will remain in effect overnight when wind gusts could reach 40 miles per hour.
The major part of the storm is still traveling up the east coast toward Tri-Town and will arrive later tonight and last until around 8 a.m. Wednesday morning. Snow totals are anticipated to be between 10 and 14 inches, with temperatures plummeting into the single digits by the end of tomorrow.
Old Rochester Regional School District went ahead Tuesday afternoon and canceled school for Wednesday, and Town libraries also shut their doors early today, canceling library programs for tomorrow.
Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School is canceled, and so is Bristol County Agricultural High School.
Mattapoisett Recreation and Marion Recreation programs and activities are, you guessed it, all canceled for Wednesday, too.
Towns canceled elected board meetings for Tuesday night, except the Marion Planning Board still met at 5 p.m., while the Board of Selectmen canceled its 7 p.m. meeting because of the timing of the storm.
Trash pick-up services, already affected by the Monday holiday, will be pushed back and the pick-up schedule presently is as follows:
Mattapoisett: Tuesday trash pick-up is now Thursday, Wednesday pick-up is now Friday, and Friday pick-up is now Saturday.
Marion: Tuesday pick-up is now set for Thursday, while Wednesday recycling will be picked-up on Thursday.
Rochester: All trash will be picked-up on Sunday. Have trash curbside by 7 a.m.
It is wise to keep your cell phone and electronic devices charged in case your house loses electricity during the storm. The Wanderer wants you to post your storm photos to out Facebook page, so keep those digital cameras charged!
To report an interruption in your electricity, call NSTAR at 1-800-592-2000.
By Jean Perry