Travel Ban Ri Lifted at Noon, McKee Urges Caution as Cleanup Continues

Gov. Dan McKee lifted the travel ban ri at noon Tuesday ET, but he urged residents to stay off the roads unless driving is absolutely necessary as plows and crews continue clearing from a historic blizzard.

Travel Ban Ri lifted at noon

McKee said he had waited until the situation was safe enough to end the restriction and led a briefing on cleanup efforts. "It’s going to take time to fully recover from this historic blizzard, but we will get through it, and we will not stop until the job is done, " McKee said. He also explained his reasoning: "The decision's made on multiple levels, but it's mainly on safety. But now we also are very cognizant -- as you're aware, I'm a small business guy -- I want to make sure that our businesses can open up and we don't need to, you know, continue a ban when we're in a position that we can open it so that we can make sure we open our businesses and do the things that we need to do to keep the economy going. " WJAR carried the lift announcement, and NBC 10's Maddie Heimsch said Rhode Island lifted the travel ban at noon Tuesday.

State police tallies and emergency workload

Rhode Island State Police said they responded to 269 disabled or stuck vehicles and 20 crashes during the blizzard, and they issued more than 40 tickets to people violating the travel restriction. E-911 handled 5, 469 calls during the storm, reflecting an intense emergency workload while crews worked to clear roadways and check on residents.

National Guard, warming centers and mutual aid

McKee activated the National Guard to assist with cleanup. Maj. Gen. Andrew Chevalier, adjutant general, said the Guard "have gone out to different warming centers checking on them. They've also gone and checked on throughout different communities any disabled vehicle to make sure there was no people in them. " The state has requested mutual aid from other states for access to equipment like payloaders, heavy-duty plows and backhoes to help with snow removal.

Power restoration timeline and utility staffing

Rhode Island Energy has more than 400 crews and 1, 400 personnel assessing damage, cleaning up debris and restoring power, the state said. Greg Cornett of Rhode Island Energy called restoration "painstaking and challenging" because of the deep snow, ice and cold temperatures. Cornett said the utility expected to have the number of outages below 10, 000 by the end of Tuesday and that more than 95% of customers should have power restored by Thursday. At 2: 45 p. m. Tuesday, Rhode Island Energy reported about 8, 900 homes and businesses without power. The utility said estimated restoration times will be updated on the Rhode Island Energy outage map and warned some areas could take up to 72 hours or longer to restore.

Where to go for shelter and next steps

The governor said people with shelter or housing needs should visit the Executive Office of Housing website for assistance. Even with the ban lifted, McKee asked people to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary while plowing and clearing continue across the state.

Officials have set target checkpoints for the recovery: utility crews aim to reduce outages to below 10, 000 by the end of Tuesday and to restore more than 95% of customers by Thursday; restoration estimates will be posted on the outage map as work proceeds.