PILEUPS ON BLACK ICE
Needham man, 63, killed by skidding car
A treacherous ice storm that triggered a slew of massive pileups across the Bay State — including a 55-car wreck in Wakefield — is being blamed for the tragic death of a 63-year-old Needham grandfather who was hit and killed by an out-of-control vehicle while helping his son.
Taylor Horton, who was driving the lead car in a huge chain collision in Wakefield, said she must have hit a patch of black ice before her “car started to spin.”
“My glasses literally flew off my face when I hit the guardrail, so I couldn’t see anything,” Horton told the Herald. “When I was hit from behind, I thought that’d be it. But the ice was so slick, it was like bumper cars.”
Although about 30 cars were towed from the scene, state police say there were only a handful of minor injuries.
Another multicar wreck in East Boston snarled Route 1A traffic headed toward the Ted Williams Tunnel, and there was a pileup on the Eliot Bridge in Cambridge.
Meanwhile, heartbroken family members mourned the loss of Joseph Flynn, who was killed by a car that skidded into him at about 7 a.m., as he tried to help his son Joseph free his car from the ice in Needham, cops said.
“Joe went into cardiac arrest and they couldn’t revive him,” Flynn’s wife of nearly 37 years, Sheila, told the Herald through tears. “Joe took care of everybody, that’s what he did. He took care of everybody and that’s what he was doing today, taking care of his son and in a split second, he’s gone.”
Police did not release the name of the 40-year-old Needham man who struck Flynn and no criminal charges had been filed as of last night.
Grief-stricken friends remembered Flynn as a near-scratch golfer who dressed up as Santa Claus every Christmas, and was happiest with his wife, three children, two grandchildren and four siblings.
“He was this big Irish Catholic man who was so in love with his family and emotional,” Flynn’s youngest daughter, Stephanie Clason, said. “He was the first one to cry at a picture or laugh when we had a party. You couldn’t say one bad thing about my dad, and you could be anyone you wanted to be around him.”
With as much as 14 inches of snow incoming, the MBTA insists millions of dollars spent on upgrades will be enough to handle the largest snowstorm to hit this season, but transit officials still are urging riders to be patient when they take to public transportation today.
The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for Plymouth County and Cape Cod and the Islands that will take effect at 9 a.m. tomorrow. School in Boston and much of the rest of eastern Massachusetts has been canceled.
Up to 14 inches of snow is expected to bury the southern part of Massachusetts by 8 p.m., accompanied by wind gusts up to 50 mph.
The rest of the state remains under a winter storm warning, with snow totals varying from 8 inches to more than a foot, beginning with the morning commute. The Department of Transportation is urging anyone who doesn’t have to drive to stay home.
For those who do have to go to work, “The MBTA is fully prepared,” the agency said in a statement. “Since the winter of 2015, the T has spent more than $100 million on new snow-fighting equipment and infrastructure improvements, including (a) new third rail for all sections of the Red Line that are not underground.”
There are also 80 new snowplows for the Red and Orange lines, as well as anti-icing equipment that will be active to prevent ice from forming on the third rail.
“Commuters are encouraged to be patient, allow plenty of time for travel and plan ahead by checking MBTA. com/winter or @MBTA on Twitter for real-time updates,” the agency said in a statement.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh said City Hall, public libraries and the Boston Center for Youth and Families facilities will be open.
The city will have 600 pieces of equipment that began hitting the roads last night to pretreat them for the coming snow and then plow them all day long.
He said trash and recycling pickup is being moved up an hour. He warned that if any space savers appear before the end of the storm, they will be picked up by garbage trucks.