A sense of relief as region digs out

The last piece of the state travel ban was lifted at midnight and the MBTA planned to resume service Wednesday morning.

Sean Proctor/Globe Staff

Residents were digging out Tuesday on Brent Street in Dorchester.

Suzanne Kreiter/GLobe STaff

A pedestrian walked on Seaport Boulevard toward downtown.

John Blanding/Globe Staff

Cathleen Cahill faced deep snow as she took her dog, Chikita, for a walk in Rockport.

Suzanne Kreiter/GLobe STaff

Shovelers were at work on St. James Street.

Dina Rudick/Globe Staff

Lindsey Demint, an Emerson student, tossed a football on Harvard Avenue in Allston.

Mayor Walsh declared a snow emergency in Boston.

Wendy Maeda/Globe STaff

People were outside, even as the snow continued to fall Tuesday.

Suzanne Kreiter/GLobe STaff

Amy Grace, 10, found a mountain of snow on Tremont Street.

Two residents made their way on cross-coutnry skiis in downtown Boston.

Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff

Two residents made their way on cross-country skis in downtown Boston.

Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

Snow fell against a darkening sky and high tide on Plum Island.

Bill Blackwood made his way onto the beach to walk his dog on Plum Island.

Jessica Rinaldi/Globe STaff

Bill Blackwood made his way onto the beach to walk his dog on Plum Island.

Children sledded down Pleasant Street in Charlestown during the blizzard.

Bill Greene/Globe Staff

Children sledded down Pleasant Street in Charlestown during the blizzard.

Large rocks filled homes along the shore of Brant Rock in Marshfield.

John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

Large rocks filled homes along the shore of Brant Rock in Marshfield.

In Marshfield, heavy surf washed out a sea wall Tuesday morning.

John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

In Marshfield, heavy surf washed out a sea wall Tuesday morning.

Despite pockets of flooding, such as on Turner Road in Scituate, storm damage was more of a travel nuisance than a bottom-line blow for most businesses, homeowners, or insurers.

For those who had to work, no winter wonderland

For many, the storm didn?t mean a day off or a chance to sleep in. Instead, it meant a grueling commute and a long, bleary-eyed stretch at the job.

A woman pulled a young girl in a sled along the Commonwealth Avenue Mall as the wind whipped up snow all around them.

Snow?s lightness was a boon

The consistency of the snow was very light and fluffy in much of Mass., allowing it to blow off power lines rather than accumulate.

Employees, including Clinical Director of Operations Daniel Nadworny (center), set up cots for workers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Under siege from storm, hospitals get creative

From ferrying patients home in four-wheel-drive vans to fashioning temporary rooms out of waiting areas, hospital administrators did what was needed.

Water flooded the parking lot and buildings at the Chatham Fish Pier early Tuesday morning.

Nor?easter takes aim at coastal communities

The blizzard caused flooding and power outages, but less of the devastating damage that some had feared.

Amy Grace, 10, played on a snow mountain on Tremont Street in the South End Tuesday. A lot of people found the much-hyped storm easy to handle and got out to enjoy it.

Nor?easter delivered less drama, more fun than forecast

With businesses and schools closed and most heeding the emergency travel ban, the result felt like a lot of snow but not a lot of Sturm und Drang.

A home owned by former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and his wife Ann in La Jolla, Calif.

Gregory Bull/AP

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Michael Heiser, New England Patriots Fan and Massachusetts native, currently lives in Arizona. Here he is seen in Toso's Bar and Grill in North Phoenix, the official headquarters of the 300-member New England Patriots Fan Club. Finally they're back, but fans are still haunted by their last visit. (Kieran Kesner for The Boston Globe)

Kieran Kesner for The Boston Glo

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Seven members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom offered to share personally in the flogging.

The Big Picture

Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff

Massive snowstorm hits the Northeast

The storm blasted the region with wind-whipped snow that piled nearly three-feet high in some places.

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