CHICOPEE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) -- Chicopee city officials warned Friday that they didn’t have enough plow drivers for the weekend storm. Before the storm hit, crews loaded trucks with salt and sand, preparing for the worst, despite being short-staffed.

By Monday afternoon, some Chicopee neighborhoods were plowed and passable, for the most part.

Chicopee resident Christina Sicard was out shoveling her stairs and sidewalk, telling us how she felt crews did despite the shortage. “Yeah, I mean they started kind of like I think when it was dark out. But I mean I’m not driving anyway, so...,” she explains.

Sicard is a hair stylist who, luckily for her, doesn’t work on Mondays. She stayed home like city officials suggested. Now, she’s clearing her driveway and getting her car ready, so she can get back to the salon on Tuesday. “[I’m] just waiting for it to snow more, I guess, and then coming back out... So, we’ve got to get all our cars ready and all that for tomorrow.”

Despite the shortage, community members came together to clean up their town. Three Chicopee teens traded video games for snow shovels, becoming their neighborhood’s emergency plow crew.

Chicopee teen Luis Rivera and two friends went door to door Monday afternoon; digging out cars, clearing driveways and making paths to front doors. The work was backbreaking.

“Somebody was like, they needed to go plow people, like, they needed to go plow the streets for people. And they couldn’t do it, so they asked us to help them out. So, we like, got their car, out of the snow,” Rivera tells us.

So, despite the driver shortage, Chicopee’s streets are clear enough for residents like Christina to get back to work on Tuesday. DPW crews were all out working today and unable to comment, but the plowed streets tell the story: the city made it work.

The question now: will these teens get another snowy day on Tuesday to continue helping? Springfield Public Schools are already closed, but Chicopee and Holyoke schools say it’s too early to tell. Be sure to stick with us on air and online for any closing updates.

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