'They want to be with their family.' Plow drivers prepare for short turnaround
Private and public plow drivers just had a few hours to rest between snow falls
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Both public and private plow drivers in Connecticut are preparing for a short turnaround between the Blizzard of 2026 and another forecasted snowfall early Wednesday morning.
The City of Norwalk says it was able to send crews from the Public Works Department home for a few hours on Tuesday to get some sleep after nearly 48 hours straight of work.
"They take a lot of pride in what they do, but I'm not going to lie that they are tired," said Vanessa Valadares, Norwalk's chief of operations and public works.
Meanwhile, some private companies, like Triple A Home Improvement, worked 24 hours straight before taking a quick break and then heading back out Tuesday afternoon, according to owner Enio Aviles.
"It's very stressful because you've got to watch the roads, the sleepy time, you've got to stay awake basically two nights," he said. "You've got to drink a lot of coffee, I guess, to stay awake and be positive."
But based on the forecast, they might have to go right back out there again.
Norwalk is planning on having crews report starting at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, according to Valadares, while Aviles said he would also be checking his phone around that time.
"My wife says, 'How do you do all that?' but in the end, you know, the money's good," he said. "When we can do the work, we got to do it. There is a time for relaxing in the summer or whatever, but when the time is coming to work, we have to just be courageous and just go out and do the work."
Crews in Norwalk are also getting paid overtime for their shifts, but Valadares says at this point, the novelty is wearing off.
"To be honest, I believe that after so many storms now, the money is not any more the issue," she said. "They are just tired. They want to be with their family."
Both say that when the work gets long, little moments, like the satisfaction of seeing a freshly cleaned area, when a deli sends over food, or someone calls up just to let them know how much they helped, can really make a difference.
"That makes them keep going. That really is, at this point, is much more than the money," said Valadares.
