Governor Healy orders travel ban for parts of Massachusetts, mobilizes guard as nor'easter knocks out power to about 290,000

Governor Healy on Tuesday urged residents to stay off the roads and announced a travel ban for Plymouth, Bristol and Barnstable counties as a powerful nor'easter dumped snow, produced hurricane‑force gusts in coastal areas and left roughly 290,000 customers without power.

At a briefing at the governor's state emergency operations center, Healy said the storm has been "really, really powerful" and asked people to "stay off of the roads" so utility, emergency and public‑works crews can reach affected areas. He announced that the state has set the Mass Pike speed limit at 40 miles per hour and limited travel on the South Coast and Cape Cod to essential personnel, including first responders, utility crews, food and fuel delivery and medical staff.

MEMA director Dawn Bramley said the emergency operations center remains activated to coordinate resource deployment and municipal requests for assistance. Bramley said MEMA and partner agencies have been working with utilities and local officials to stage high‑water rescue vehicles, snow equipment and generators and that the shelter system had opened multiple warming centers: 17 warming centers with capacity for 779 people and four shelters with capacity for 380, she said.

Officials attributed most outages to high winds and loss of access rather than shortages of crews. Healy and Bramley said additional crews have been staged and mutual aid was arriving from other states and Canada, but work is slowed until winds subside and roads are cleared so bucket trucks and crews can safely reach damaged lines.

The lieutenant colonel speaking for state police said the travel ban carries penalties and reported hundreds of disabled motor vehicles across the state; officials said enforcement and public safety are priorities. Bramley relayed a forecast from an agency meteorologist that winds were expected to begin subsiding around midmorning, which should help plows and restoration teams resume full operations.

Officials urged residents who have lost power or need shelter to call 211 for help, to check on elderly neighbors and people who rely on electricity for medical devices, and to use generators outdoors to avoid carbon monoxide risk. The briefing closed with a reminder that restoration could take multiple days and with thanks to workers assisting in the response.

The briefing included public information about the storm's intensity (officials compared some conditions to past major storms and said snowfall totals in many locations had already exceeded 2 feet and gusts reached about 79–80 mph on the Outer Cape), plus operational direction: the travel ban for Plymouth, Bristol and Barnstable counties; deployment of roughly 200 National Guard personnel; reduced transit service on commuter rail and the T; and activation of warming centers. Officials said more detailed restoration timetables will follow as crews gain safe access to damaged infrastructure.