The Blizzard of 1978 Remembered
As I look out on a frozen landscape piled high with the snows of the more recent “Blizzard of 2015” and anticipate a long duration storm predicted to bring another 10-15 inches, I’m remembering along with MassMoments, the Blizzard of ’78. There is an historical record of the Blizzard of 1978 and Mass Moments does a good job recalling the wintry chaos of the storm and its aftermath in the Commonwealth. But we who weathered that storm have our own personal recollections and family stories. From the archive:
MassMoments Remembers the Blizzard of ’78 and So Do I…
On this day – February 7, 1978 – we awoke to many inches that later became feet of snow that had accumulated overnight. The snow continued falling throughout the day. Roads and highways were clogged with stranded cars and trucks locked-in by the snow and other vehicles. Governor Dukakis banned any but emergency travel. For days the Commonwealth was in turmoil from battered shoreline to gridlocked interstates with loss of life and loss of property. But for some it was a quiet, winter wonderland. Here’s the story of the Blizzard of ’78 as remembered by MassMoments:
…in 1978, the storm of the century paralyzed the entire state of Massachusetts. The Blizzard of ’78 dropped between two and four feet of snow on the Bay State in the space of 32 hours. Ferocious winds created drifts as high as 15 feet. Along the coast, flood tides forced 10,000 people into emergency shelters. Inland, over 3,000 cars and 500 trucks were immobilized along an eight-mile stretch of Route 128. By the time it subsided, the storm had taken 29 Massachusetts lives, destroyed 11,000 homes, and caused more than one billion dollars in damage. The Blizzard of ’78 is also remembered for many acts of kindness, cooperation, and courage.Read more here at MassMoments.com: http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=45