Power outages plummet to around 4,000 as Bay State digs out

Tim Dunn, Boston Herald on Feb 27, 2026

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From nearly 300,000 without power to about 4,000 in one week.

And they were celebrating that blizzard bounce-back Friday in New Bedford, Massachusetts, as Mayor Jon Mitchell said nearly all the streets were plowed after 37 inches of snow fell on the Whaling City.

“This was a very large storm, the largest on record. The records go back to the mid-19th century. So some of us are old enough to remember the Blizzard of ‘78. This beat the Blizzard of ‘78 by almost a foot of snow,” Mitchell said as he praised city workers for their efforts, adding that roughly 75 pieces of equipment are being put to work.

“We’ve had some pieces of equipment that are down for repair. But the big thing is that most of those pieces are plows on trucks of various sizes, many of the pickup trucks. The work right now isn’t much in the way of plowing, just a little bit of that to do in certain parking lots, but it’s basically excavation at this point,” he said.

The majority of New Bedford, along with other cities in southeastern Massachusetts, was brought to a days-long standstill this week as out-of-state resources poured into the region to assist in snow removal. The mayor thanked the Healey administration for the added help.

“I want to thank the Healey administration for facilitating the connection with a lot of those contractors. They’ve been very useful along the way,” the mayor said.

But Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Shortsleeve is criticizing Mitchell and Healey for what he calls a “botched” recovery effort that’s left residents unable to attend work and school.

“Families have been stranded for days, missing work, missing school, and worrying whether emergency vehicles can even reach their homes. Government exists to handle emergencies like this, and when the response is slow and disorganized, residents pay the price,” Shortsleeve said in a Friday press release. “The governor showing up for one photo op doesn’t make up for a slow and plodding response.”

Shortsleeve’s criticism comes among complaints made by residents in New Bedford and Fall River of delays in clearing side streets, with some Fall River residents still trapped as of Thursday morning on streets had yet to be plowed four days after the storm hit.

The mayor says residents can expect most city services to reopen within the coming days. Trash collection, which has been suspended all week due to the blizzard, will resume on Monday. New Bedford Public Schools will also reopen Monday, along with the city’s recycling center, the Adult Social Day Center, and DPI offices. Buttonwood Park Zoo will reopen on Sunday. A city-wide parking ban, however, remains in effect until further notice.

As for power restoration, Eversource reports nearly 100% of its 48,420 New Bedford customers had power restored as of Friday. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) reported 4,440 outages as of Friday afternoon, the vast majority of which on Cape Cod.

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