Winthrop residents still dealing with nor'easter's icy clean-up

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WINTHROP - It's been three days since the historic nor'easter flooded the coast of Massachusetts, and towns are still digging out from that frozen mess.

Winthrop was one of the hardest hit spots, where the high tide flooded streets and left residents with too much ide to clean up. The worst part of it all is that the town will fine anyone who doesn't clear up that icy mess.

Residents say that, despite cleaning up after a storm being a normal thing to do, this was no ordinary storm. And, that at this point in time, what they need to clean up isn't snow, but rather ice that's frozen solid.

This is why residents are hoping for some leeway with their clean-up efforts.

"I didn't expect it to come that fast," said one resident.

No one could have expected this amount of flooding in Winthrop from Thursday's storm.

Paul Turner has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years and says he's never seen the harbor side of the peninsula flood before the ocean side.

"It was pretty intense for a while," said Turner.

Turner says one to two feet of water filled Shirley Street and when the plows came to push the water aside, all the water quickly turned into ice, with temperatures below freezing for days.

"It just took a tidal wave and threw it all over everything, all over the ice that was out there, all the snow," said Turner.

The problem now is how to clean up all this ice in time so residents can avoid getting fined. Turner says the town sent out warnings on Sunday to remove the ice by Monday.

"It sounded kind of stupid to me, within 24 hours, we still got ice, we still got people trapped in," said Turner.

But Turner and his family aren't alone - most sidewalks in Winthrop are frozen solid under at least two feet of ice. Neighbors say it's unreasonable to have to clear all this ice in freezing temperatures.

"I just brought out a ten pound sledgehammer with a point on the back of it and I was out there for about twenty minutes, half hour just hitting it and it’s not doing nothing," said Turner.

Turner and his family did his best they could, clearing their walkway and part of their sidewalk, but he says it's almost impossible to finish this under these extreme conditions and is hoping the town will give them an exception.

"A couple of warm days and we'd be great, you'd be able to shovel it," said Turner.

Luckily, with a few warmer days ahead, where temperatures will get above freezing, neighbors are hoping that'll help melt some of this ice.

If they don't clear these sidewalks, the fine for the first offense is $25, $50 for a second offense and then up to $100 for a third offense.

Cox Media Group