Rhode Island Travel Ban Extended as Crews Brace for Multi-Day Power Restorations
Governor Dan McKee has extended the rhode island travel ban and the state of emergency through Tuesday morning as gusty winds continue to blow snow across the state, hampering road clearance and power restoration efforts. The declaration keeps state offices closed through Tuesday afternoon while crews work to assess and repair widespread storm damage.
Development details: travel restrictions, closures and crew deployments
The governor announced that the travel ban and state of emergency will remain in effect through Tuesday morning and will be reassessed at that time to allow state and local plow crews to make overnight progress. State offices will remain closed through Tuesday afternoon because of blizzard impacts.
At about 10 a. m., officials placed roughly 50, 000 Rhode Island Energy customers without power. Rhode Island Energy President Greg Cornett said crews would begin damage assessment late Monday afternoon and warned that restoration could take up to 72 hours for some customers, meaning efforts may extend into Thursday. The utility expects a couple dozen additional crews from Pennsylvania to arrive Tuesday morning, dependent on conditions on I-95.
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation interim director Robert Rocchio said the state and contracted vendors are operating around 500 plow trucks. Rocchio described limited visibility, downed trees, heavy winds and stuck or abandoned vehicles — including disabled tractor-trailers — as major obstacles to clearing roadways.
rhode island travel ban and how the storm escalated
Gusty winds continuing to blow snow into the evening and overnight hours have sustained blizzard conditions across the state. McKee emphasized that drivers must stay off roads during the height of the storm, warning that crashes and disabled tractor-trailers are diverting resources from emergency response and clearance work.
Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency Director Marc Pappas described road paralysis in places where plows are getting stuck and have had to assist emergency medical services and police. That dynamic has constrained the state's ability to move equipment and personnel when visibility is poor and winds remain extreme.
What makes this notable is the combination of stranded heavy vehicles and sustained gusts: they not only clog routes but also prevent restoration crews from safely accessing damage, a point underscored by utility leaders who declined broad repairs until winds abate.
Immediate impact: outages, mobility limits and public-safety prioritization
The most immediate measurable impact is power loss for about 50, 000 customers as of midmorning Monday. Cornett said the agency is prioritizing 911 and public-safety issues while extreme winds limit repair operations. That prioritization, paired with hazardous travel conditions, means many residents should expect multiday outages.
Road conditions have been affected statewide: authorities report stuck or abandoned vehicles and tractor-trailers that are impeding plow progress. The DOT's roughly 500 trucks are operating around the clock where conditions allow, but crews face limited visibility and frequent obstructions.
Emergency responders are engaged in targeted assistance where plows and municipal crews can reach them, and state staging of restoration crews is already in place though larger-scale work awaits calmer winds.
Forward outlook: reassessment, scheduled arrivals and timelines
The travel ban and state of emergency will be reassessed Tuesday morning to gauge how much progress overnight plowing and damage assessment teams have made. Rhode Island Energy plans to begin broader restoration once damage assessments are complete and winds permit safe work; the utility projects up to a 72-hour window from the peak outage for full restoration for some customers.
Additional repair crews from Pennsylvania are expected to begin arriving Tuesday morning if I-95 conditions allow, supplementing crews already staged across the state. Officials have signaled that until winds ease, crews will focus on life-safety issues and damage assessment rather than full-scale line repairs.
Authorities continue to urge residents to remain off roadways while the travel ban is active to allow plows and emergency teams to operate and to reduce the number of incidents that currently consume limited resources.
