Cape Cod Reels From Punishing Winter Storm

BARNSTABLE, MA — Blizzard conditions have brought down trees and utility lines in “multiple areas” of the town, officials said in a statement early Monday morning.

The powerful winter storm began Sunday night, with forecasts of up to 30 inches of snow and 75 mph-winds in some parts of the state. At 8 a.m. the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported 128,000 customers without electricity.

By 9:30 a.m. in Barnstable, more than 20,100 customers of utility Eversource were in the dark. That was roughly two-thirds of all Eversource customers in the town. In Falmouth, about 19,000 – three-quarters of the customers – had no power.

Several towns on the North Shore, South Shore and Cape Cod were in complete darkness, as nearly 100 percent of customers were without power.

Barnstable, like many communities across eastern Massachusetts, temporarily closed schools and municipal offices on Monday due to the storm.

The town also shut down trash services for the day so public works personnel could focus on emergency snow removal.