Cape Cod Struggles to Recover After Historic Blizzard
Cape Cod and the South Shore are continuing to grapple with the aftermath of the Blizzard of ’26, with hundreds of thousands still without power as of Tuesday afternoon.
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, approximately 234,919 customers remained without power across Massachusetts, a decrease from the 250,000 reported earlier in the day, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). The impact has been particularly severe on Cape Cod, where Barnstable reported over 20,000 outages and Falmouth nearly as many.
Several other Cape towns are experiencing widespread outages, with Dennis, Yarmouth, Mashpee, Harwich, Brewster, Chatham, and Eastham reporting between 5,000 and 9,000 customers without power – representing 75% or more of their customer base as of 1 p.m. Provincetown, Nantucket, Sandwich, and Wellfleet are also heavily affected.
Local officials are urging residents to seek shelter as temperatures remain frigid. Overnight shelters are currently open at Barnstable Intermediate School and Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School, while warming centers are available at Brewster and Orleans town halls, the Chatham Community Center, the Provincetown Community Center, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Community & Government Center, and the Family Table Collaborative in Yarmouth.
The Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee emphasized the difference between warming centers, offering a place to “get warm, charge devices, and access basic support during limited daytime hours,” and shelters, which provide longer-term refuge “if home is unsafe due to no heat, medical needs, or other hazardous conditions.” The shelter at Nauset High School in Eastham has reached capacity and is no longer accepting new residents, with those seeking shelter being directed to D-Y High School and Barnstable Intermediate School.
Cape Cod State Representative Steven Xiarhos stated he is participating in meetings at both the county and state levels to gather the latest information from emergency officials, which he is sharing on social media. “We survived record-breaking blizzard conditions across our region,” Xiarhos posted just after 8 a.m. Tuesday. “Many residents are still without power. Plows have been out all night and continue to work, but it will take time to fully clear the roads and return to normal operations.”
Xiarhos added that “hundreds of utility crews” are working to restore power, with assistance arriving from across New England. He anticipates “significant progress” today, but cautioned that full restoration will take several days.
Both Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis and Falmouth Hospital remain fully powered. The Steamship Authority has resumed service. The Massachusetts National Guard is assisting communities throughout the region.
Governor Maura Healey is traveling to Cape Cod “to check in on storm recovery efforts and support our local teams on the ground.” She has lifted the travel ban for Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable, and Dukes counties, but the state of emergency remains in effect for all other counties.
“While I’m lifting the travel ban for Southeastern Massachusetts,” Healey stated in a social media post just after 1 p.m., “I’m still urging everyone to stay home and off the roads if you can. Pay attention to local restrictions and parking bans, and drive carefully if you do need to travel. Crews are out in force clearing snow, and utilities are working around the clock to restore power. Let’s give them the space they need to get the job done safely and quickly.”
Plymouth remains significantly impacted, with over 23,400 customers without power. Numerous other communities, including New Bedford, Fall River, and Brockton, continue to enforce local travel restrictions and parking bans. Several school districts have announced additional snow days for Wednesday, including Acushnet, Avon, Barnstable, Brockton, Mansfield, Plymouth, and Weymouth.
National Grid crews are working to restore power across the state, having already restored service to over 71,000 customers who experienced outages since Monday morning. More than 561 crews are currently deployed, and the company expects most remaining customers to have power restored within the next two days. The storm caused “extensive damage,” breaking nearly 100 utility poles on the South Shore and Nantucket, according to National Grid.
Residents in need of assistance are encouraged to contact the United Way’s #211 helpline.
