South Shore Digs Out From Snow Storm
HANOVER (CBS) - Where Boston and other areas got off lightly, some South Shore communities hit the snow jackpot. In Hanover, road crews made good progress Wednesday clearing streets. All around town, neighbors worked to dig out of roughly 18 inches of puffy snow. "It's not too bad if you have the right equipment," Rich Patten said as he took a quick break from snow blowing his driveway.
Patten has a good excuse why his house had to wait until Wednesday night, hours after the snow stopped falling. "I work for a landscape company in Hingham and you know, two inches on the ground it's off you go and you work until you're done, 10 hours, 20 hours, 30 or whatever it takes," he explained. "It's typical like the plumber with the leaky pipe you know you're always last."
Nearby, we happened to find find a plumber, also hard at work clearing his drive. "Get home and have to face this," said Mike Spillane. Spillane worked in the cold all day at a Boston construction site. His neighbor plowed his drive this morning, but still needed to clear a little more and dig out a path for oil delivery later this week. "I've been doing this for 30 years so I'm used to the cold weather," Spillane said. He also offered some advice for other homeowners to prevent freezing pipes. "If you have a cold spot like a mudroom, you want to try to keep that door open to let the heat circulate through the house," he said.
As the area got pummeled by snow Tuesday afternoon and into the night, Rick Mascarenhas worked out in the elements at a Hanover gas station for 14 long hours. "Today is approximately the same time. 6 a.m. cleaning the snow and I assist in the plowing, then started pumping gas to the customers that were available," he said. He says those customers often feel sympathetic, but after 25 years on and off at this job, he's used to the extreme cold. "I wear multiple layers, a good three to four layers, I guess," he said. "I do think about Spring from time to time," he explained.
Until Spring arrives, Hanover's Fire Chief says neighbors are asked to check the hydrants near their houses. After a big snow, it's important to make sure they're accessible in case of a fire. Around town, we saw many homes with hydrants near them, where the snow had already been shoveled away.
