Ballamer is in the middle of a record setting snowfall. The media calls it a "snow event," what's with that? We're ~1/4 mile of the nearest snow emergency route and haven't seen a plow... and don't expect to 'til maybe Monday. In typical municipal double-speak/mindlessness, we can't get speed bumps put in on the main drag because we're told it is an unofficial emergency vehicle access road for the larger neighborhood. Well, OK. You'd think that would qualify the street for some at least occasional plowing... FAIL! Around the house we have 22-28" of snow on the ground. We're shoveling the sidewalks because there's 3-5" more snow forecast through tonight with quite high winds to cause drifting. The widow living across the street has her 93 yr. old mother living with her. She's been in and out of the hospital for various age related heart issues. The 85 yr. old widow down the street who lives alone is totally dependent on her younger brother for routine out of the house excursions. Right now, it would take a serious 4x4 or HumV to get in here. The Nat'l Guard has dispersed it's HumVs to fire and police stations. So, if worse comes to worse, I hope help will be able to get in here. Here's some pix... I take it that the strange snow smile that Amapola is wearing on the back is chagrin. High probability of more snow on Tuesday... You can't imagine my excitement.
Yeah, that's a lotta snow. Never mind the 4x4s, I hope fire and rescue can find some snowmobiles and sleds when they need to.
Update It remains all-quiet in my section of Ballamer Town. We still haven't seen a plow some 24 hrs after the snowfall stopped. And the new Mayor says it probably wont be until Tuesday. Hold your horses... That's a definite maybe because there is more snowfall forecast for Tuesday and the plows/salt spreaders are needed for the Snow Emergency Routes and feeders. The combined neighborhood is actually considering hand shoveling the road for ~1/4 mile to get to the open road! Some pix: Yes, Amapola really was under that mound of snow I showed earlier. The neighborhood featuring shoveled walks and virgin snow in the roadway. An act of quiet desperation. This snowmobile was found buried under a pile of junk... er... memories in a aging parent's garage. It was said to be maybe 35 yrs old! It doesn't run very well. Time for a recall!
It's great to see clear walks and snowy roads. Here, it's often the other way around. Even a bit of snow can be treacherous as it alternately melts and freezes. Yeah, that snow machine does look a bit 'vintage'.
Update 2 Its been a full 48 hrs since the snowfall stopped, and we still haven't seen a snowplow in our neighborhood. The evening news reports that this is a common situation around the city and surrounding county. Late this afternon, we walked the ~1/4 mile out to the nearest snow emergency route to see what the situation is. Not good. At this time, the two lane road has only one lane clear, and at all places the pavement is not clear. There is increasing anxiety in older folks, or people taking care of them or children. Folks are walking out to get prescriptions filled, either 1 or 4 miles round trip depending on the pharmacy. One of my immediate neighbors has a four-wheel drive Honda Element. We have been able to get him out of the neighborhood and back so nearby emergencies can be covered. (We decided that beer/wine liquor was an emergency... legal drugs don't you know. ) The neighborhood roads are a real mess. Our neighbors on our block did get together to clear the roadway. A good thing as far as it went... ~1/8th of a mile. The folks on the next block connecting to the Snow Emergency Route couldn't pull together so they did nothing. Here are some pix. They were taken in three directions at the same intersection. This is 50 yd stretch of road that a neighbor and I cleared today. Between us we have 125 yrs. I won't say how many of those are mine. Here is the long block that the immediate neighbor hood cleared. It is a "Highway To Nowhere." Here is what the typical neighbor hood road looks like. FWD vehicles have been pushing trough... none with plows though. Just at the limits of visibility 5 cars got stuck at times today. There were folks digging them out virtually all day long. For heaven sakes! Why don't they just shovel off the roadway? That's either silly or stupid. Virtually all city government is closed; city offices, courts, schools. Police, fire, and hospitals continue to serve gallantly but are hampered by reduced road access. Now we're looking at 5-8+ inches of new snowfall tomorrow afternoon and through the night. Night time temps are dropping below 20 degF so the standing water in the streets from sun-melted snow freezes. Driving before things warm up in the morning, ~32 degF, is treacherous. Farther off, beyond the western horizon, we're told to expect another storm next Monday. And to think, Merlin is called "The Land of Pleasant Living!"
It's a good time to test out the neighbourhood emergency response system. Never mind waiting for rescue and snow plows, if you can pull together and get the collective essentials taken care of, the neighbourhood will be that much stronger. Would a local pharmacy allow you to gather up prescriptions and fill them on behalf of others?
Update 3 I didn't post last night because I was in a bit of a blue funk; no end in sight. But there is news. Yesterday were were able to get Amapola on the road; just barely and only for the briefest of time, just to restock the pantry. I can report we have seen a snow plow. It was stuck in the snow/ice covered roadway at the far end of the Highway to Nowhere that we had shoveled out. The driver didn't even have the plow down. After 15 minutes the truck was free, it drove about 100 yds and got stuck again. This was the exact same route that we had used to get out of the neighborhood some 2 hrs earlier. At the grocery store, stocks were low. Best quote: "Well, at least they aren't out of fish sticks yet!" Clerks said that Monday was a mad house with lines stretching from the cash registers, through the isles to the back of the store. It is snowing again with now some 10+ inches of new snow. Some folks are bemoaning the fact that we're seeing/expecting winds up to 35 MPH. I think it's a good thing as the swaying branches shed the snow; smaller probability of broken branches/downed power lines. Temps with the wind chill are in the single digits...Brrr. The weather radar shows a strange phenomena. Since early this morning, the storm has been essentially stationary with a clearly seen circular rotation pattern centered on our beloved Ballamer. The "eye" of this storm is anything but placid and calm. Just how bad conditions are is reflected in two recent announcements: * Ballamer is now in Snow Emergency Level 3 -- this means that only city/state/federal vehicles are allowed on the public streets! * In Carrol County, a pretty much suburban and rural county northwest of Ballamer, the county's snow removal crews have overwhelmed and taken off the road "until conditions improve!" Good luck with that. A neighbor's family runs a popular restaurant down town. He estimates that they have lost ~$10K a day since last Friday, some $60K so far. That's just one "hospitality industry" business out of what, 100,000? But I would think that every business is hurting. Nobody can get out to spend... even internet sales can't be delivered. Talk about an economic disaster. I haven't included any new pictures because at least one local TV station is now streaming its ongoing coverage: CBS Video Viewer
A friend lives in a similar "remote" neighborhood here in Colorado. He bought a used 4WD pick-up with a plow a few years ago and plows the entire neighborhood every time they are snowed in. However, if the main road that goes to the real road is still covered, he usually has to wait for the county as plowing these gets into liability issues. He also operates as the emergency gofer for the neighborhood if no one else is able to get out. His current car collection includes the plow truck (with studded tires and available chains, if necessary), a Suburban on winter tires, and two Tahoes on winter tires. The collection is often on loan in bad weather. One blizzard when our youngest grandchild was born, we were at the hospital in the wife's Impala LTZ when it snowed a few feet. My friend was about half way between the hospital and home. We made it to his neighborhood and decided to try to get in there. The snow was over hood high when I turned in and stopped dead (have to admit the Impala did pretty good for a low, FWD up to that point, and as it turned out would probably have gotten us home - just). The neighborhood was out working the roads, and got us to my friend's house and refused any money for the work. A great neighborhood that pulls together when things get bad. Good luck with the current blizzard. A lot of the country is digging out this morning, but here in Colorado we've been lucky - so far!
Doc, I don't know about that. I think that I-95, I-83, and other highways will be open, but that may not be the case in the city. They've run out of space to put snow and have asked for private companies to volunteer front-end loaders, etc to help dump snow into the harbor. The city didn't even get all the Snow Emergency Routes cleared to the pavement before this new snowfall. This I know from my ex- neighborhood excursion yesterday. Public schools are already cancelled in the city through Friday. Coupled with the earlier snowfall this is now far and way the heaviest snowfall on record going back to 1883. I'd be looking to arrange/negotiate/appeal for a delay for whatever it is your trying to get here for. Keep an eye on the local TV I posted earlier. Temps are forecast to be a little above freezing at least during daylight hours which helps somewhat, but standing water refreezes at night. One ongoing problem is that all the storm water grates -- some folks still incorrectly call them "sewers" --are blocked by huge piles of snow. Later in the week, PM me if you think I can add any on-the-ground info that will help.
