Local DPWs on overload in wake of storm

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Mass. (WWLP) - The storm is over, but many residents and towns still have a lot of work to do.

Charlemont is outfitting big construction vehicles with plows.

They received more snow than most of the other areas from Wednesdays storm.

Department of Public Works crews say they've got to prepare for the next storm.

"Been keeping things pushed back pretty good with our smaller trucks but now we have to use this piece of equipment," says Gordan Hathaway with the Charlemont DPW.

He says snow banks have reached the highest they possible can.

They're attaching plows to move snow thats already been plowed just so they can remove the mess the next time a storm comes.

"We've got to crowd them back, the trucks are at a point now where they can't crowd them back anymore, we're out of space, we've used up all our space," says Hathaway.

Some DPW's spent more time getting ready for the next storm than cleaning up for the last one.

Residents are having the same problems.

Liz Canali of Heath is running out of room to throw the snow from her driveway but she's just thankful the storm wasn't worse.

"Every storm is like, uh-oh, says Canali.

She was a victim of last Decembers ice storm that left many without power for a week or longer.

She says when she heard this latest storm was heading in, she worried they'd be hit again.

"We've had so many storms this year, that one more on top of it could have been the ice storm disaster all over again, especially when they started forecasting rain," says Canali.

The problem is, they're not eve halfway through winter yet, and she expects the most snow still to come in February and March.