Snow-pocalypse Now

Update: The robo-call just came through for DAY 2 of school closure in the South Orange Maplewood School District. There will be no school tomorrow, Thursday, February 11 for students in the district. Parents are moaning across Maplewood, but their despondent cries are being drowned out by the children shrieking with joy!

At 4:15 p.m. Eric Burbank, Director of the Maplewood Department of Public Works, was spotted driving a plow himself (see the evidence for yourself in the photo gallery). One thing you can say about Maplewood Public Works—no cushy desk jobs there. The Town was getting hit with another wave of heavy snow at that time and Burbank was looking tired by cheerful.

Newark Liberty International Airport continues to be open but most flights are cancelled. Essex County has declared a snow emergency, which means no parking on  snow emergency routes (County roads) in Essex County. Autos parked along these routes will be towed and ticketed. You can find a list of County roads on this website.

State offices were closed today. Maplewood Jitney service was suspended. The number to confirm if Jitney service is running is 973-762-1175, but we don't think anyone will be answering tomorrow at 6 a.m. Keep an eye instead on the Township website.

Yesterday Burbank reported that in preparation for the storm, "We have all the plows on the trucks, and the salt trucks are loaded and ready to go. The road division will be in first with five salt trucks. Once the snow builds up three inches, we will call everyone else in and start plowing." The plowing looked to start after 9 a.m. and the plows were seen around town throughout the day (again, check out our photo gallery). Kudos to Public Works.

The Maplewood Fire Department continues to ask residents to please help clear areas around fire hydrants so that they can be easily accessed in case of emergency.