East Hampton Town Manager: Schools May Have to Close Tomorrow

Road clearing from Friday's blizzard in East Hampton and Portland continues slowly but steadily as work crews try to reach side and back roads still buried under 30 inches of snow.

In East Hampton, the town has hired private contractors to help plow and have broken work crews into shifts to keep the plowing going 24 hours, said Town Manager Michael Maniscalco.

He said the town currently has 14 plow trucks operating around town, but still many side roads remain impassable. He said officials are hoping by day's end to get the roads clear enough, though not perfectly plowed, to allow people to get our of thier homes today.

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The roads, Maniscalco added, may not be cleared enough to allow bus travel. Many other towns are in the same position, he said, and will have to make a decision today on whether to cancel school for tomorrow.

"It's just going to take a while," he said.

used the town's automated phone calling system late yesterday assuring residents that the town is working diligently to get the roads cleared and telling them to call 911 if they have an emergency.

"The clearing is slow and steady," she said. "We truly appreciate all your concerns and patience."

Some, however, are beginning to run out of patience. In Portland, for instance, Amy Giarnella posted this East Hampton-Portland Facebook plea for help:

"I live on Main St in Portland and its plowed but our very long driveway is not so we can't get out. We just moved here two weeks ago from Philadelphia so we don't know anyone yet; does anyone have any idea of who to contact to get plowed out? Even if its not for a day or two? My daughter got sick with a horrible fever too on Friday and we're running out of medicine so I'm hoping to get to a store tomorrow."

Several others responded with offers of aid or contact information for snowplow contractors.

Maniscalco said town officials held a conference call with state emergency management leaders on Saturday and asked about getting help from the Connecticut National Guard. He said the state told them the Guard does not have snow clearing equipment to help dig out local residents.