Monday, October 29, 2012
Here are guidelines from the USDA regarding the safety of food in a refrigerator without power.
With Hurricane Sandy predicted to hit us hard today, losing power is a threat. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service prepared a fact sheet for keeping food safe during an emergency, including losing power. The USDA says to "keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature." But, the refrigerator will only keep food safely cold for about four hours if unopened during a power outage, according to the USDA. A full freezer will hold the temperature for about 48 hours if full (24 hours of half full), the USDA says. The USDA emphasizes "never to taste food to determine its safety" and says that you should "evaluate each item separately." Generally, if the temperature in the thermometer…
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Hurricane Irene hits Watertown, more runs added to the 73 Bus route and couple sees man trying to break into their home.
Hurricane Irene blew through Watertown on Sunday, and caused quite a bit of damage, especially down trees and power lines. The storm knocked out power for hundreds in town, many of whom had to wait for days for it to be restored – including a building with four pregnant women. The MBTA will add two morning runs into Harvard Square on the 73 Bus route. A diesel bus will be used to relieve crowding during the morning rush hour. A couple on Coolidge Hill Road got a scare when they spotted a man trying to break into their home. Police have a lead on catching the burglars. Two men were nabbed by the Southern Middlesex Drug Task Force when they were observed making a deal to sell cocaine.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
People can put out leaves and cuttings that day, and also, reasonable bunches of branches and brush during regular trash pickups.
- NEWS
-
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
The Watertown Department of Public Works made the following announcement: Due to the high winds caused by Hurricane Irene / Tropical Storm, our vendor, Allied Waste will be collecting compostable bagged and small yard waste items curbside, on Friday, Sept. 2. Also the Department of Public Works will be collecting branches and tree brush in reasonable quantities curbside on your normal trash day beginning, Wednesday, Aug. 31. Also, please be advised that the trash will be one day late the week of Sept. 5 due to the Labor Day holiday.
42.375618
-71.183278
Watertown Department of Public Works
124 Orchard St, Watertown, MA
/articles/special-yard-waste-pickup-scheduled-on-sept-2-in-watertown
768337
/locations/5238107
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
One cluster of blacked out residents includes a building with four mothers-to-be.
Going without power is difficult, especially when you are an expectant mother. Elm Street resident Rachel Jacobs, who is six-months along, and since early Sunday she and her husband Shred have been without power. She is just one mother-to-be in the two buildings owned by the same firm. “I’m one of four expecting mothers in the building,” Jacobs said. “We’re pretty frustrated and uncomfortable, but I suppose it could be worse.” Two of the women are due within the next week or two, and the third is due in December, Jacobs said. Two days after Hurricane Irene passed through Watertown, hundreds of residents still have no power. As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, 389 Watertown residents, 2.3 percent of the total customers, had no power, according to an …
42.36646
-71.15568
Elm St & Chadbourne Ter, Watertown, MA
/articles/blacked-out-watertown-residents-told-they-may-have-to-wait-until-friday-to-get-power
/locations/5231883
Monday, August 29, 2011
A roundup of the region's experience with and response to Hurricane Irene.
Check out your local Patch site for information about Hurricane Irene as it relates specifically to your town. A sampling of articles and images featured in today's PatchCast is below.
Watertown lost some trees in Hurricane Irene, some causing some significant damage.
Many trees fell in Sunday's storm. One destroyed a wire fence at the field in front of the Brigham House on Mt. Auburn Street and Boyslton Street. Another took down power lines and nearly hit a house on Harnden Avenue, near York Avenue. Three cars were hit by a tree on Morse Street. A tree uprooted in the delta at the intersection of Orchard, Belmont and Lexington streets.
42.37866
-71.18351
Harnden Ave & York Ave, Watertown, MA
/articles/image-gallery-trees-down-after-the-storm
/locations/5219220
42.37995
-71.19052
Lexington St & Orchard St, Watertown, MA
/articles/image-gallery-trees-down-after-the-storm
/locations/5219221
42.37004
-71.1706
Boylston St & Mount Auburn St, Watertown, MA
/articles/image-gallery-trees-down-after-the-storm
/locations/5219222
42.36067
-71.18794
Morse St & N Park St, Watertown, MA
/articles/image-gallery-trees-down-after-the-storm
/locations/5219223
The clean up of fallen trees has been delayed while town workers wait for NStar crews to turn off power to live wires trapped under the trees.
While many went on with their normal Monday – hopping on the bus to work, eating breakfast at a diner or going for a jog – the unlucky few who lost power could only wait for NStar to get to their street and restore power. Around noon on Sunday, Tim McManus heard a huge crash at his home on Morse Street. The tree just missed his house, but fell smack on his driveway. “It hit three car cars, and damaged every one of them,” McManus said. “One is totaled.” Along with the cars, the tree took down power lines and other wires running in front of McManus’ home. “We are waiting for NStar,” McManus said. “It's a town tree and the town can’t come to remove the tree until NStar turns off the power line.” The story is the same at other places around …
42.37866
-71.18351
Harnden Ave & York Ave, Watertown, MA
A tree fell across Harnden Avenue, and knocked down power lines. Part of the road is closed.
/articles/watertown-residents-who-lost-power-still-waiting-for-the-lights-to-come-back-on
/locations/5219198
42.36067
-71.18794
Morse St & N Park St, Watertown, MA
A tree fell onto three cars, and took out power lines to one home.
/articles/watertown-residents-who-lost-power-still-waiting-for-the-lights-to-come-back-on
/locations/5219199
42.36664
-71.15535
Elm St & Arlington St, Watertown, MA
Residents lost power at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday.
/articles/watertown-residents-who-lost-power-still-waiting-for-the-lights-to-come-back-on
/locations/5219200
42.371965
-71.179765
Katherine Rd & Church St, Watertown, MA
Two trees fell, taking down power lines. Street closed.
/articles/watertown-residents-who-lost-power-still-waiting-for-the-lights-to-come-back-on
/locations/5219201
The storm created some havoc in Watertown on Sunday, blowing over trees, knocking out power and littering the streets with debris.
Hurricane Irene did not pack the same punch in Watertown as she did in states farther south, but the storm left its share of destruction in town, Sunday.
42.371965
-71.179765
Katherine Rd & Church St, Watertown, MA
/articles/image-gallery-watertown-after-irene
/locations/5212918
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Watertown and Eastern Massachusetts brace for the impact of Hurricane Irene.
Welcome to Patch's live, continuous blog coverage of Hurricane Irene and its impact on the Watertown area. We'll be providing updates here through Sunday evening, including publishing your contributions – tweets, photos and comments. Send Us Your Photos and Videos! We'd love to prominently display any photos you take of the aftermath. It's easy to upload photos to the gallery we have going here – just click on 'manage your photos and video'. Or, email photos to us through watertown@patch.com and local editor Charlie will make sure they appear on Watertown Patch. To add your comments to the blog, just start typing in the text box above. Thanks for reading!
42.370337
-71.178169
Watertown High School
50 Columbia St, Watertown, MA
Watertown's main emergency shelter
/articles/live-blog-continuous-coverage-of-hurricane-irene-in-the-watertown-area
768529
/locations/5206137
We want to see what you're seeing - grab your phone, snap a photo and send it to us.
Irene is predicted to be the biggest storm to roll through the Massachusetts in many years and you can be a part of the Watertown Patch coverage of the event. We want to see your photos and video clips from the storm. To be clear, we are not asking anyone to go out into the storm and risk their health or safety. But you can get an excellent view of what is going on in your neighborhood from your own front porch. Sharing your video clips and photos is easy. You can either upload them directly to this story, post them on the live blog, or you can email them to me at Charlie.Breitrose@patch.com. Stay safe and dry, Watertown. Keep us posted here or on the Patch live blog as to how you're doing.
Edie B.
9:05 pm on Tuesday, August 30, 2011
I'm sorry to hear about the extended loss of power. But I wanted to mention to Rachel that the wedding cake top is pretty much inedible after a year in the freezer, even without a power outage. My husband and I tried one bite of ours on our first anniversary, and it tasted horrible (freezer-burnt, absorbed tastes of other food in the fridge/freezer). I later learned that the freezer portion of a … more ›