Easton DPW Battles Changing Forecasts, Messy Conditions

Thursday will prove to be a long day for the Easton Department of Public Works.

"We’ve been out since about six this morning sanding and plowing," DPW Director Dave Field said Thursday afternoon. "We have additional contractors coming in as we speak to complete the plowing. We’ll stay plowing and sanding until its over."

Field said the DPW has been hard at work, dispite changing forecasts. While forecasters originally called for mostly rain, snow was heavy Thursday afternoon.

As of 3:30 p.m., National Weather Service predicted an additional 7 inches overnight.

"We didn’t expect the amount of snow we’re getting right now," he said. "We thought during the day we wouldn’t have this – we’d have some rain and additional melting so it’s a challenge to stay on top of what’s expected. We’ve had some very good predictions this year and everything kind of played out as it was supposed to. This one’s kind of changed a little bit on us. It’s nothing we can’t handle. It’s just a matter of getting it done."

As of 3:30 p.m., only one power outage was reported, affecting approximately 50 National Grid customers in the area of Randall Street. According to the power company, all was restored.

Field also said he did not anticipate any major issues with flooding.

"The only time we’d have it is if we get a lot of rain at a certain point and the basins are plugged," he said. "We’re available to go around and open them up as needed."

Like he did during the "Blizzard of 2013," the DPW director warned motorists and asked that they refrain from driving as much as possible so workers could complete their jobs.

"It’s hard for us to clear with traffic and things like that," he said. "It is messy out there but we  can’t catch the snowflakes before they hit the ground. It is actively snowing and we’re out plowing and we’ll continue until it’s done."