ice storm

A severe ice storm prompted President Bush to declare Saturday that a state of emergency exists in northern Massachusetts, a move that authorizes the use of federal aid to help the recovery effort.

Gov. Deval Patrick declared a statewide state of emergency on Friday in response to the storm, which struck Thursday and continued into Saturday.

By Saturday night, there were 180,000 customers without power, said James Mannion, deputy public information officer for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

In addition, 750 National Guard troops were deployed in the affected area, he said.

“The big problems here are, obviously, the power outages,” he said.

Officials were working to clear roads so that power crews could get in.

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Below is a photo of my sister’s driveway.  We were spared the ice here in Grafton as the temperature hovered just above freezing.  But folks north and west of us were not so lucky.  We had 3 friends stay with us Friday night and my sister and brother-in-law stayed over last night.