PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In the wake of a ferocious winter storm that blanketed the Northeast with record-breaking snowfall, residents from Maryland to Maine grappled with power outages, towering snowdrifts and lingering disruptions on Wednesday, February 25, 2026. The storm, described by forecasters as the strongest in a decade, dumped more than three feet of snow in parts of Rhode Island, surpassing the Blizzard of 1978 and leaving communities digging out for a third straight day.
Power failures affected more than 138,000 customers as of Wednesday afternoon, with the vast majority in Massachusetts, particularly on Cape Cod, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us. Utility crews from across the region, including reinforcements from other states, worked grueling 18-hour shifts to restore electricity amid thousands of damage sites caused by downed lines and heavy limbs. In Barnstable, Massachusetts, Anny Enos sought refuge at a warming station with her three grandchildren, charging devices and escaping their powerless home. "I haven’t had power since Sunday afternoon and was afraid that I might not get it back until Friday," Enos told the Associated Press. She had discarded most of her refrigerator's contents the day before and expressed frustration over the preparations. "I hate to say it but it doesn’t seem like they were ready," she said.
The storm's fury extended beyond electricity woes. Early Wednesday, up to three more inches of snow fell across the region, exacerbating slippery roads before rising temperatures turned the accumulation into slushy hazards. In Rhode Island, residential streets remained unplowed, postponing trash collection and forcing some schools into virtual learning for the rest of the week. Providence officials opted to keep classrooms closed, prioritizing safety amid the ongoing cleanup. Meanwhile, in New York City, the nation's largest public school system welcomed back more than 900,000 students for a regular day, though parents navigated massive snowbanks and salt trucks during drop-offs.
Tragic incidents underscored the storm's dangers. In Newport, Rhode Island, 21-year-old Joseph Boutrous, a sophomore offensive lineman on Salve Regina University's football team from Bohemia, New York, died from carbon monoxide poisoning after attempting to charge his phone in his snow-obstructed car. Newport Police Capt. Joseph Carroll described the death as accidental, noting that the vehicle's exhaust pipe had been blocked by snow. Boutrous had informed a fellow student of his plans, and his teammates expressed heartbreak in social media posts.
Cleanup efforts mobilized on multiple fronts. In Massachusetts, Doug Foley, president of electric operations for Eversource, explained that workers faced "thousands" of sites requiring backhoes to remove snow before repairing poles or installing new ones. Crews from Kentucky, for instance, assisted in Plymouth, clearing downed limbs alongside local tree service workers like Francis Santana from Rhode Island. In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration deployed creative measures, spreading 143 million pounds of salt by Tuesday evening and enlisting at least 3,500 emergency shovelers at $30 per hour to clear bus stops and streets. Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan noted that workers were setting up massive basins of warm water to melt snow and ice, a tactic that processed 23 million pounds during last month's storm.
Providence, Rhode Island, resorted to trucking excess snow to five dumping locations, with city communications director Josh Estrella indicating more sites might be needed. Across the region, acts of community support emerged amid the hardship. Neighbors and government workers in New York collaborated on digging out, while in Brooklyn, parents like one photographed carrying daughters over snowbanks outside day care centers adapted to the chaos. Even in Bridgton, Maine, cross-country skier Nate Andrew found moments of levity, being pulled across Moose Pond by his dog Frankie during the ongoing flurries.
Accessibility challenges highlighted inequities in the recovery. Jeff Peters, spokesperson for the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York, described sidewalks in parts of the city as marooning for those with mobility issues. "You’ll find a portion of a sidewalk that is clear, and then there’s maybe a 6-inch pathway that can only be walked with one foot in front of the other and no room for a stroller, rollator, walker or crutches," Peters said. "Then you get to the corner and not only is it unshoveled, but you have basically a glacier at the end of it." In Harrisville, Rhode Island, Tina Guenette, who relies on a motorized wheelchair, shoveled her yard herself after 33 inches of snow fell, as the town's volunteer program had lapsed years ago. "I really have no choice if my service dog wants to go outside," she said.
Meteorologists emphasized the storm's unprecedented scale. National Weather Service forecaster Bob Oravec reported that additional light snow had moved out overnight from the Great Lakes into the Northeast. Former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist Ryan Maue crunched the numbers, estimating the total snowfall from Maryland to Maine equated to 2.5 trillion gallons of water. If concentrated on Manhattan alone, it would rise over a mile high; on Rhode Island, it would bury the state under 92 feet. New York State received the equivalent of 680 billion gallons, Pennsylvania 410 billion, and Massachusetts 28 billion. "I think this storm took a severe winter and turned it into an extreme winter or a record extreme winter," Maue said. While the eventual melt could alleviate drought in parts of the Northeast, for now, it compounded the season's miseries.
Transportation disruptions lingered but showed signs of easing. Thousands of flights had been canceled in recent days, but by Wednesday, only about 200 remained grounded nationwide, per FlightAware. Rhode Island's T.F. Green International Airport reopened Tuesday, with some departures Wednesday despite cancellations. Jamie Meyers, a Manhattan resident returning from Buenos Aires, Argentina, experienced the relief firsthand when her delayed flight landed Tuesday evening to applause from passengers who had been stranded since Sunday.
Broader regional impacts varied. Philadelphia's schools returned to in-person classes after two days of online learning, and Boston reopened following winter break closures. In contrast, harder-hit areas like Cape Cod saw residents like Enos relying on shelters for warmth and connectivity. AP reporter Kimberlee Kruesi documented snow removal in Providence, where the record three feet of snow transformed familiar streets into waist-high canyons.
As utilities and cities pushed forward, the focus shifted to prevention and resilience. Foley highlighted the influx of out-of-state crews, while Mamdani's emergency shovelers provided a model for rapid response. Yet, voices like Enos and Guenette pointed to gaps in readiness, suggesting lessons for future storms in an era of intensifying weather. With temperatures rising, the slush threatened flooding, but the snow's water content promised long-term benefits against drought.
Looking ahead, officials anticipated full power restoration within days, though rural areas might lag. Schools in Rhode Island planned to resume in-person next week, pending plowing progress. The storm's toll—beyond the immediate hardships—included canceled events and economic strains on small businesses, but it also fostered community bonds, from shared shoveling to warming stations. As the Northeast transitions from blizzard to thaw, the episode serves as a stark reminder of winter's enduring power in the region.