Residents remember the Blizzard of '78

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – 35 years ago the Blizzard of ’78 swept into Southern New England and is still the snow storm by which all others are measured.

Some residents remember the Blizzard of ’78 clearly, and shared their amazing stories about the storm and its aftermath.

• Historic Photos: Blizzard of '78

The snow on February 6, 1978 began falling late in the morning, Seekonk resident Guy Boulay said it piled up quickly.

“There was this fine snow starting to fall and one of the school administrators said, ‘I think this is dangerous'. Then it piled up so high in front of the door there was no way we could get out,” he said.

Boulay was working for the Woonsocket school system at the time, and reports he made it home okay. There was so much snow that Guy was forced crawl out the window to shovel a path to the font door.

Barrington Resident Terri Yoder was a student at Barrington College when the blizzard hit.

“We were buried, there was no one getting in, no one getting out. Students were stuck there,” said Yoder.

Once the storm ended, Terri remembers getting badly injured while playing in the snow and needed to go to the hospital.

“They had to call in a special ambulance to come and get me, they took me down this teeny path to the hospital,” she said.

There was no room at the hospital, and Terri’s parents could not make it down from Maine because of the snow on the roads. Terri had to recover for weeks at the college.

During the Blizzard of ’78 there were hurricane force winds, 100 lives lost, and over $500 million in damage.