PHOTOS: Southborough cleans up after Irene

Above: A fallen tree on Latisquama Road

Southborough began to feel a bit like its normal self yesterday. Power was restored to most of the town, but there were still some residents in the dark. National Grid said yesterday power should be restored to nearly all in Southborough by Friday, but a handful would be without electricity until as late as Sunday.

Power had returned to most town-owned buildings yesterday including the Town House, Library, Senior Center, and all four public schools. Superintendent Charles Gobron said teachers returned to school on Tuesday to set up their classrooms and would be ready for students for the first day of school today as scheduled.

The Southborough Library, which suffered significant flood damage during a rainstorm two summers ago, weathered Irene relatively unscathed. Library Director Jane Cain said there were a few puddles in the downstairs meeting rooms, and one water-logged ceiling tile fell on the main floor.

Many shops in the Town Center plaza like Dunkin Donuts and Eaton Apothecary were closed this morning because power was still out to the plaza. Others like Stony Brook Market were open for cash sales only. Power to the plaza was restored around noontime on Tuesday.

Steve Mauro, owner of Mauro’s Cafe and Mauro’s Market, said his power was restored Monday around 6:00 pm. Mauro said he borrowed a big generator and was able to keep most of his perishable items from spoiling during the power outage. While he lost all the ice cream at the cafe because the compressor broke, he said overall his losses were not too significant.

“It could have been much worse,” he said.

Town Administrator Jean Kitchen said the Southborough Board of Health was doing checks on restaurants and other businesses that handle food to make sure everything was safe as the power came back on.

I drove around yesterday morning snapping a few photos of the clean up. Take a look. (Click to enlarge.)