In Retrospect, the Blizzard of ‘78: 30 Years Later
Thirty years later, a flashback on the snow storm of the century which was the inspiration for the recently published poem “Starbird Hill” by Michele Cameron Drew.
Flashback to the “Blizzard of ‘78″: Although I only talk about the beauty and wonder of the storm of the century through the eyes of a child in my poem “Starbird Hill“, New England and parts of the New York metro area were covered in up to a nearly 5 foot deep blanket of cold and white. The snowfall began on February 5th and ended on February 8th, with the 6th-7th being the time of major accumulation. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island were the hardest hit, with up to 55 inches of accumulation in some areas.
In New England weather forecasting is difficult and one of the primary issues with this storm was that we were broadsided without foreknowledge of the storm’s severity.
Known for clearing the roads well in advance of the work day and informing workers of impending severe conditions, the Boston area was dumb-struck in the wake of this storm. Routes 128 and 93 were literally buried beneath an ocean of vehicles, snow and human beings. The army and the national guard were called out to pull the vehicles and individuals off of the highways. Over 3500 cars were found abandoned and buried just on the major roadways, in the aftermath. The state of Massachusetts was deemed a “natural disaster area” and all driving was banned on the roadways.
While so many were stuck in their cars on the roadways, countless others were literally buried inside their homes and many areas, including where I lived, were without power for over a week. There were snow drifts of up to 15 feet in some places.
Without heat, food, electricity or water and no transportation for more than a week, the chill had set in. People lined the streets with sleds, cross-country skis or walking, to transport food and water from the few nearby stores that were open for business. The sound of the streets was so quiet and there were people everywhere, talking, laughing, shoveling, amazed by the wonder all around us. In most areas snow banks were more than 10 feet high!
The only vehicles on the roadways belonged to the army and national guard and kids found the most amazing places to sled; in the long, hilly, windy New England roads!
Along the coast, many homes were destroyed or literally washed into the ocean. The hurricane force winds, unusually high tides and the full moon were all unexpected as were the waves some as high as 20 feet. Basements flooded ceiling high or worse, some people were literally trapped in several feet of the icy ocean, inside their own homes. Rescue workers lined the streets in boats called “Amphibians” instead of cars, some standing in waist high water in these towns to try to evacuate the trapped people from their homes to nearby businesses and schools that were providing shelter. Some waited up to two weeks to return to their homes only to find them in a complete state of chaos or worse, completely destroyed.
More than 10,000 people were moved into emergency shelters, more than 2500 homes were severely damaged or destroyed and 99 lives were taken too early, including a young boy who disappeared in the snow and was found days later just outside his front door.
It is said that more than $2.3 billion dollars in damage was done.
In the aftermath, clean up took months, for some even years. Our shoreline was ravaged and in the wake of this terrible storm, its face has been forever changed.
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10 Responses to “In Retrospect, the Blizzard of ‘78: 30 Years Later”
On December 5, 2008 at 5:05 am
Those were horrific pictures! Mother nature can be cruel sometimes.
Excellent article, Michele. Thanks for showing. God bless.
On December 5, 2008 at 8:45 am
This blizzard, -also called “Blizard of ‘77″, is the inspiration behind an ice-cream by PERRY’S, which is vanilla, coconut flakes and RUM!
I lived in New York when this hit, -remember it well. People in Buffalo, NY were trapped in their cars up on the skyway for like 24-hours. Snowmobiles were used to ferry people off of the skyway, bring food/aid to motorists, the whole city shut down basically, as did much of of the northeast.
As I recall, there was very little actual ‘new snow’, but Lake Erie was frozen with a thick layer of snow on top of it. Winds kicked-up the snow and dropped it east and south of the city, the so-called ’snow belt region.’
We missed school for several days because of this.
Great story. You get a SU
On December 5, 2008 at 9:14 am
I’m from central Mass, and we had to dig tunnels through the drifts, then collapse the tunnels and dig them out again in order to create walkways.
I remember snowmobiling with my buddies down the main street of Worcester, stopping at red lights, the only souls downtown. Snowdrifts that went over the roof line, bottled water selling for $4 a jug, and a full week off from school.
On December 5, 2008 at 9:29 am
Sad how nature can destroy so much.
On December 5, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Great reflection of a terrible tragedy. Such a quick storm too. Well detailed and pics are explicit.
On December 7, 2008 at 12:01 am
What a horrible blizzard! Nature’s fury knows no match! Great article and pics!
On December 7, 2008 at 7:51 am
Very comprehensive article on natural disasters. I enjoy reading every bit of it!
On December 30, 2008 at 8:45 am
A very well written and intresting article, Michele. I was in my late 30’s when this event took place. My area of NH only got about a foot of snow, but things became impassable at the MA/NH border. I had a friend who piloted for Eastern Airlines that did not get back home for over a week, because Logan was closed down. When he did get home, he had a hard time finding his car, as it was still buried in the parking lot. This storm is still fascinating over thiry years later!
On January 9, 2009 at 10:50 am
Michele, this article brings back some memories of me growing up in Holden Massachusetts. Our neighbors were out of town when the storm hit. They called my parents concerned about their vacant house and asked if we could dig out their window wells to the basement. The snow was so deep my brother and I were able to walk over their six foot stockade fence into the back yard. It took all day to clear out the window wells. Of course we had to have a snow fight, dig tunnels, make an igloo and goof off most of the time. We probably didn’t even clear out all off the window wells we didn’t know how many there were.
On January 18, 2009 at 10:36 am
I remember this storm particularly well as I was stranded in the Hilton hotel near the airport for nearly a week. My family were flying back from a trip to Ireland and were scheduled to land in Toronto which was re-routed to Boston due to snow (!), but then Boston was closed too and we were meant to head for Chicago but we were at this point running out of fuel and Logan airport was opened so our plane could land. I remember my ears hurting from the slow circling decent and the silent panic of the passengers and bracing for impact then skidding and bumping our way to a prolonged, cushioned shuddering halt. We all cheered.
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