Safety guidelines for St. Patrick's Day weekend in Holyoke - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff

Safety guidelines for St. Patrick's Day weekend in Holyoke

Posted: Updated:
HOLYOKE, MA (WSHM) -

Hundreds of thousands of people will be descending upon the Paper City this weekend for the annual Saint Patrick's Day road race and parade. Police are asking people to plan ahead.

"We suggest you get here early," said Holyoke Police Lt. Matthew Moriarty. "Parking is at a premium. We will enforce parking rules. Don't block people's driveways, don't block a fire hydrant."

Moriarty says that if people break those rules tickets will be issued and tow trucks will be called in.

With the holiday and its festivities known for its alcohol consumption, authorities are warning parade and race goers that if it gets out of hand they are ready to step in.

"I know some people think we go lax on the rules but you can check the arrest logs we have plenty of, so to say," said Moriarty.

Other things Moriarty says to keep in mind are to dress for the weather and to leave banned items like toys guns and silly string at home. And there will be plenty of police on the job throughout the weekend.

"We have cooperation from numerous communities," said Moriarty. "We'll have obviously the state police here, we'll have auxiliaries, we'll have reserves and obviously the Holyoke Police Department and several other communities are bringing officers in for us we'll have the sheriff's department. We'll have a lot of coverage."

Police are urging people to let them know if they see a problem early on so they can solve it before it becomes anything bigger.

Copyright 2013 WSHM (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

  • Most Popular StoriesMost Popular Stories

  • The StormTeam Digital Doppler image will be updated approx. every 5 minutes.  This is a screen capture of what the StormTeam is looking at.  So from time to time, the image might be zoomed in on different
    The StormTeam Digital Doppler image will be updated approx. every 5 minutes. This is a screen capture of what the StormTeam is looking at. So from time to time, the image might be zoomed in on different
  • Monday, June 17 2013 6:42 PM EDT2013-06-17 22:42:05 GMT
    Heavy rain showers caused flash flooding in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties. Ameren Missouri reported close to 1,000 outages in southeast Missouri at one point.
    Heavy rain showers caused flash flooding in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties. Ameren Missouri reported close to 1,000 outages in southeast Missouri at one point.
  • The Midwest Radar animation will be updated approx. every 30 minutes. If you are using Internet Explorer press F5 to refresh your page.
    The Midwest Radar animation will be updated approx. every 30 minutes. If you are using Internet Exlorer press F5 to refresh your page.