CRANSTON, R.I. (WJAR) — Gov. Dan McKee officially lifted the travel ban in Rhode Island at noon Tuesday.
But he asked people to stay off the roads unless they absolutely need to drive.
“It’s going to take time to fully recover from this historic blizzard, but we will get through it, and we will not stop until the job is done,” McKee said.
Gov. Dan McKee leads a briefing on Rhode Island’s cleanup efforts.
Rhode Island State Police said they responded to 269 disabled vehicles and 20 crashes during the blizzard.
They said they issued more than 40 tickets to people violating the traffic ban.
McKee said Monday night that he wouldn’t lift the ban until it was safe to do so. Here was his reasoning for lifting it:
“The decision’s made on multiple levels, but it’s mainly on safety,” McKee said. “But now we also are very cognizant — as you’re aware, I’m a small business guy — I want to make sure that our businesses can open up and we don’t need to, you know, continue a ban when we’re in a position that we can open it so that we can make sure we open our businesses and do the things that we need to do to keep the economy going.”
The governor activated the National Guard for assistance with cleanup.
“They have gone out to different warming centers checking on them. They’ve also gone and checked on throughout different communities any disabled vehicle to make sure there was no people in them,” Maj. Gen. Andrew Chevalier, adjutant general, said.
Rhode Island has requested mutual aid from other states for access to equipment like payloaders, heavy-duty plows and backhoes to help with snow removal.
NBC 10’s Maddie Heimsch reports that Rhode Island lifted the travel ban at noon Tuesday.
The state said Rhode Island Energy has more than 400 crews and 1,400 personnel assessing damage, cleaning up debris, and restoring power. Officials said it could take up to 72 hours or longer to restore power in some areas.
The governor said anyone with shelter or housing needs should visit https://housing.ri.gov.
He said anyone who needs to get to a shelter but doesn’t have transportation should call their local public safety department.
NBC 10’s Maddie Heimsch contributed to this report.
