What was predicted by major news media to be the “Blizzard of 2015” on Monday, Jan. 26, trickled down to a brief dusting of snow across most of the Northeast. This left produce professionals grateful, but also in question of decisions made by politicians in preparation for what they believed would be a dangerous storm.

Headlines throughout the day on Monday were enough to put a scare into anyone: “Northeast U.S. braves 'crippling' blizzard, transit systems shut," “Schools closed, flights cancelled [more than 7,500] as blizzard hits,” “Non-essential drivers off the city's roads after 11 p.m. Monday [or risk a $300 fine],” and “New Hampshire governor declares state of emergency and closes government on Tuesday.”

Millions of people emptied store shelves prepared to hunker down in their homes. Eight states were under emergency declarations by late Monday. According to one NBC news report, the Northeast corridor came to an eerie standstill.

But news on Tuesday morning took a turn with headlines like “NYC travel ban lifted, mass transit back later this morning.”

Tuesday morning was mostly about getting back to normal in the produce industry.

“Our trucks were loaded and ready to go last night,” Michael Muzyk, president of Baldor Specialty Foods in the Bronx, NY, told The Produce News. “We had to make a decision: Should we load trains as a backup or wait it out? But our customers include hospitals, nursing homes and even hotels that are responsible for feeding people, and they don’t shut down.”

Baldor managed to pull together a skeleton crew to drive the trucks, and Muzyk made the decision.

“I told them that if they got stopped by the police for breaking the law during the ban, they were to tell them the truth--they were getting food to these facilities that needed it,” he said.

“We’re all happy that the storm wasn’t worse and that no one was harmed,” he continued. “But this has nothing to do with snow—it has to do with the actions taken by city and state officials.”

He added that there is a huge financial loss for companies like Baldor due to this level of shutdown, and he feels it leaves room for the actions to be examined for future weather emergencies.

“It was only a passing storm for us,” said Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association in Fishers, NY. “Some shippers will have to delay deliveries, but they will make them up immediately once the storm passes. New England will be down the longest. We hope all remain safe and that life and property are not harmed.”

In South Jersey, the storm had even less affect. On Tuesday morning Amy Erianne, vice president of business development for Safeway Group in Vineland, NJ, said, “We really did not get much snow at all, and it was much milder than forecasted. We are operating as usual and there were no issues, thankfully.”