Storm Center: Friday, February 8, 2013

6:20 p.m. – Evening update time. Unless some more cancellations are announced, or there is some emergency news to share, this will most likely be our last snow-related update until tomorrow morning.

• According to National Grid, a large section of Wakefield and Tuckertown is without power – an estimated 1,630 customers as of 5:16 p.m. The restoration time is put at 7:30 p.m. About 820 customers are also effected on and near Great Island and Galilee in Narragansett, with a restoration time of 7:30 p.m. as well. (Reminder: Restoration times are only ESTIMATES.)
• The South County YMCA is closed Saturday.
• The snow projection from the NWS is holding steady at 18 to 24 inches for most of Narragansett and South Kingstown. However, if you’re RIGHT on the coast, it has been downgraded to 14 to 18 inches, and Block Island is at just 10 to 14 inches.

12:45 p.m. – Time for a noon-ish update! Here is more info and cancellations we’ve gotten in:

• There is a slight downgrade in the snow forecast on the National Weather Service site, as portions of Narragansett and South Kingstown are now only projected to get 18 to 24 inches of snow, as opposed to more than 24. Otherwise though, no changes to the forecast.
• According to the National Grid outage map, power is still in place throughout most of Rhode Island. In South County, current estimates are less than five customers without power in Wakefield, in the area of Main Street, Woodruff Avenue and High Street. State estimates are less than 10 customers without power, with the other very small cluster in Newport County.
• All Washington Trust banks are closed as of noon Friday. They will be closed for all of Saturday.
• The South Kingstown Public Library is closed as of noon.
• South Kingstown Orthopedics and Physical Therapy is closed as of 1 p.m. They will have normal hours on Monday.
• GED tests at the Education Exchange of Wakefield are cancelled for Saturday. They are rescheduled for Feb. 16.
• The South Kingstown Adult Day Service Center and the South Kingstown Senior Service Center are both closed for Friday.
• Officials for the Pell Bridge and the Mt. Hope Bridge said that while they don’t prematurely close either one, because of their vital links between the mainland and Aquidneck Island, they are monitoring the storm and closures are possible.
• Really, REALLY need some sort of goods? The Commons Convenience Store sent me an e-mail and confirmed that they are open their normal hours, until 6 p.m. today.
• According to Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation, Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, and Representatives Jim Langevin and David Cicilline have requested a federal emergency declaration for Rhode Island in anticipation of storm damage.
• To clarify some South Kingstown High School information – Only the Saturday afternoon production of Oliver is currently cancelled. A decision on the 7 p.m. Saturday showing will be made on Saturday. The showings on Sunday – 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. – are still planned to go on.
• The Red Cross has released safety tips for using generators. See the attached PDF for more info.
• According to one reader, Xtra Mart only has super premium gas available for $4.04 per gallon. While they most likely just ran out of the other varieties, remember that stores aren’t allowed to price gouge during a storm situation – You can file a complaint with the attorney general’s office.

6:06 a.m. – Also, before I forget… A buddy told me that at Stop and Shop, they did triple the usual business of a Thursday in the produce section alone.  Out of curiosity, and because I am an eternal procrastinator, I went shopping myself at 9 p.m. Thursday.

Pretty much everything was cleared out, including odd items like everything piece of chicken except for the livers and gizzards, and all of the cherry and grape tomatoes. So, I guess I will not be making a chicken-and-tomato omelet this morning.

How was YOUR shopping experience on Thursday? Let us know in the comments section! I also got reports of madness from area Walmarts, and at places like Job Lot.

5:58 a.m. – As of Friday morning, a parking ban is in effect for Narragansett and South Kingstown, and every school district in the state has cancelled classes for the day.

Locally, this means no school for Narragansett, South Kingstown, the Prout School, Chariho, Westerly, North Kingstown, East Greenwich, and all of the other charter and private schools.

This also includes the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College, Brown, Salve Regina and pretty much any other college or university you can think of. Heck, for the full list, just go here.

Other events postponed or cancelled:

• The gala for St. Mary’s of Narragansett has been postponed until Tuesday, Feb. 12.
• A Place to Grow in Wakefield will be open until noon.
• The CANE Child Development Center is closed.
• Growing Children of Rhode Island closes at 12:30 p.m.
• The Joyful Learning Academy is closed.
• The Adeline LaPlante Memorial Center is closed.
• The South County Hospital rehab and wellness gym is closed.
• The South Shore Center in Charlestown and Wakefield closes at noon.
• The Pier School production of The Wiz, and all South Kingstown afterschool events planned for this weekend, have been postponed to future dates.
• All events at the University of Rhode Island, including those in the Big Chill weekend, have been postponed.
• Bradford Trout basketball for the weekend has been cancelled.
• All high school and middle school sporting events have been cancelled for Friday and Saturday. Any Sunday practices are at the discretion of coaches and local officials, depending on the storm’s damage.

Check back with Narragansett – South Kingstown Patch throughout the day, as we will update this story with other closings and storm info that we receive.

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