School is Closed for Monday

With Halloween decorations in the backdrop, Jochen De Smet, who lives on Maple Avenue, digs out from the storm.
Juliana and Gala Kaloway enjoy the warming center at the Shrewsbury Senior Center as both of their homes are without power due to the storm.
A branch on Prospect Street near North Street hangs on a electric wire.
The line at Dunkin' Donuts on Maple Avenue has been out the door since early this morning.
Crews worked through the night to clean up around town.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Sawyer said school will be closed on Monday, Oct. 31 due to the storm and the road conditions.

SELCO and highway department crews are still working around the clock to restore power.

"Due to public safety concerns created by the weekend storm, including many hanging tree limbs on power lines, ongoing power outages in some parts of town, and difficult travel on some roads due to downed tree limbs, there will be no school tomorrow, October 31," Sawyer wrote in an email to all Shrewsbury families. "Families are reminded that Tuesday, Nov. 1 is already scheduled as an off day for all students as it is parent conference day for preschool through grade 8 and a professional development day for the high school. I expect that parent conferences and professional development will proceed as scheduled on Nov. 1, and that school for students will resume on Wednesday, Nov. 2."

The Shrewsbury Senior Center was opened and was considered a warming center since about 3 a.m. this morning. The town announced that the senior center will become a shelter at 3 p.m. for residents without power.

"We have cots and some clean bedding, but we recommend residents bring their own blankets and bedding if they would like," said Shrewsbury Emergency Management Director Allyn Taylor. "We had about 13 people stay overnight during the ice storm, so the doors will be open. We'll be serving pizza, so if you'd like something else, bring your own grub."

Taylor was at the senior center this morning helping out a few residents who wanted to stay warm until their power was turned back on.

"I lost power at about 11 p.m. last night, then it came back on at about 3 a.m.," said Juliana Karoway, a resident of South Quinsigamond Avenue. "Then we lost it again about a half hour later, and I was concerned about my mom."

Gala Karoway, Juliana's mother, lives on Oak Street and lost power just before midnight. "I've never seen anything like this," Gala Karoway said. "I have an ADT security system, which the light kept flashing after the power went out, so I wasn't able to go back to sleep."

The Karoways were hopeful they would be getting power soon, but just in case, Juliana Karoway was calling friends to see where they could stay for the night.

"We're not giving an estimate of when the power will be restored at this time," said Jackie Pratt, communications manager at SELCO who has been tweeting updates since last night. "We're working as hard as we can and we will keep updating residents as soon as power is restored."

Four crews, two from Connecticut and two from Taunton were dispatched to help SELCO restore power as quickly as possible.

SELCO just reported the South Street area near Route 20 area is back up. A crew will be going to Cherry Street to work on the outage there. Crews also restored power to Walnut Street between Route 9 and Route 20 including Shrewsbury Village.

The town has also delayed trash pickup by one day and the yard waste pickup will be delayed one week, though the town will allow for up to 3-inch branches to be bundled at the curb.