New England Digging Out as Search for Boy Widens

BOSTON â€”  New England spent Friday digging out from a blizzard that dumped nearly 2 feet of snow on the region, closing airports, cutting power to thousands and hampering the search for a missing child.

Massachusetts State Police expanded a search for 9-year-old Corey Anderson of Norton, Mass., who was first reported missing at the height of the blizzard Thursday after he set out to find his golden retriever.

The storm on Friday swerved out to sea, leaving behind up to 22 inches of snow and almost 11,000 electric customers on Cape Cod and the islands nearby without power.

In their search for Corey, state police divers and airboats scoured local streams and ponds. More than 100 police and fire workers combed the woody area around Norton in a frantic effort to find the boy.

“There is certainly concern over the time he’s been out,� said state police spokesman Lt. Paul Maloney. “The weather, which was always a concern, is becoming more of a factor . . . . The longer he’s out the more grave it looks.�

The boy’s uncle, Paul Anderson, told television reporters the family is holding out hope for the best. The boy’s dog turned up Thursday.

Meanwhile, power companies scrambled to restore electricity but were slowed by the remoteness of some downed power lines and because ferry service to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard was halted.

When ferry service finally resumed Friday morning, 19 power crews sailed from Hyannis for Nantucket, where 900 of the island’s 10,000 electric customers remained without power, a spokeswoman for Nantucket Electric parent New England Electric System said.

“We have many, many poles down,� NEES spokeswoman Karen Berardino said. “Those gale-force winds, with the weight of the snow on the wires, it just knocks them down.�

She said power would be fully restored to the island within 24 hours.

Cleanup on Cape Cod was also slow. About 11,000 customers were still without power, said Peter Dimond, a spokesman for Commonwealth Electric. Power to about 5,000 customers had been restored, he said.

“We have some power lines that are very difficult to get to because they go cross-country and, because of the deep snow, access is pretty difficult,� Dimond said.

Specially tracked police vehicles came to the aid of ComElectric workers whose vehicles were mired in deep snow in a remote area of Cape Cod, Dimond said.

At Boston’s Logan International Airport, where thousands of travelers were stranded Thursday, operations began to return to normal.

Although the airport never closed during the storm, hundreds of flights were canceled Thursday, and delays continued Friday as airlines scrambled to get back on schedule.