Tent company expects busy weekend as nor'easter arrives in Massachusetts: "You have to be ready"

On a sunny, perfect autumn weather Wednesday, many people had their eyes on their potentially drenched weekend plans.

With an incoming nor'easter expected to wash out much of eastern Massachusetts, outdoor social events are in jeopardy.

"This is New England. If you are going to run a tent company in New England, you have to be ready for stuff like this," Sam Holmes said.

Holmes owns Twin Bros Party Rentals of Chelmsford, which rents out tents, inflatables, heaters and more. Ahead of the big weather weekend, his phone is blowing up.

"We've got a ton of calls. I would say if we have 50 to 60 events going on this weekend, it's about a 50-50 split," he said. "Half the people are going to say, 'I can't possibly have an event in this weather, it's too cold, it's too rainy.' And the other half of people are looking at that weather being like, 'I'm still having my event and now I need to get a tent for it and maybe a heater.'"

Many calls are from existing customers requesting walls to keep the rain out of their tents. Others are panicking about canceling their events.

"We are not used to this in September," Holmes said. "This is usually a very easy time of year. We go set up tents and we don't usually have to worry about the crazy wind and rain, but here we are. This is New England."

To accommodate the unusual weather, Holmes has modified his cancellation policy for existing customers, allowing them to reschedule events instead of charging them the full price for their rental this weekend.

"A lot of people are choosing to move the event to another weekend in October," he said. "We are accommodating, and we can work with people to make sure that their needs are met."

Still, some events just can't be rescheduled. Holmes said he took calls from panicked customers with events for 500 to 1,000 people this weekend.

"I feel for them because we can only do so much," he said. "We can provide it if they need it and cancel if they don't, but they are in such a state right now that they are calling more for a therapist than they are for tent advice."

Holmes says his company will have extra crews out working all weekend to patch up any tents or inflatables with weather-related issues.