| The cities and towns in the path of the Blizzard became snowbound and isolated. In the days that followed the storm, communities struggled to free themselves from the grip of the snow and to return to normalcy. Many of the industrial companies along the East Coast were forced to shut down their operations for as much as a week. Route 128, which was one of the main routes to and from a number of Massachusetts East Coast Industrial Manufacturing centers, was closed because hundreds of automobiles had been abandoned on the highway by their owners who were stranded by the storm. In Brockton, as in many other communities, life slowly returned to near normalcy. During the first days following the storm, the use of privately owned vehicles was banned from the roads and highways. As the city began its snow removal efforts and city streets were being cleared, certain automoble owners were designated to provide transportation services to those individuals who had bona fide needs to move about the city. It took most of the week following the Blizzard to clear the highways and city streets so that business and life could return to normalcy. After a few days of being housebound following the end of the storm, I decided to venture out into the surrounding neighborhoods to see what damage the storm had left behind in its wake. I brought my camera with me to snap a few candid photo's of the aftermath. The ban on the driving of personal vehicles was still in effect, so my journey had to be on foot. The entire round trip covered a distance of approximately 7 miles and took me as far North as Centerville. After I reached South Main Street, I headed North towards the Campello Business District. When I arrived at the business district, the bulk of the snow had been removed from the main streets. and the traces of snow that were left, did not reflect the conditions that must have existed immediately following the end of the storm. The snow removal crews had done an excellent job. Many of the side streets and residential street were still only partial cleared. Most had a "Single Width Lane" path plowed down the center of the street, primarily for emergency and service vehicles use, if required. The film for my camera ran out about the time I reached Centerville and I headed back home. I did process (develope) the film, but made no prints. I recently came across this film that had lay hidden amongst my belongings for nearly 25 years and thought that it might be of interest to those who survived one of the worse storms to have hit New England. There are no captions for the photographs appearing in this web site. Most of them need no explanation. Note the absence of automobiles and the numbers of pedestrians instead. A. Ward |
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