Snow's not bad with a little preparation
I just watched a segement on the news about the snow storm that moved through Tuesday and yesterday. One bit was about motorists who were stranded in Chicago as the storm hit there. Another was about the 70-some roofs that collapsed in New England due to the heavy snow. The thing that struck me in both cases was that folks should have known better.
One gentleman interviewed in Chicago who was stuck in his car for 9 hours said he started to "expect the worst" because he has no food or water in the car. I'd like to feel sympathy for him, but at the same time, part of my brain is shouting, "You live in the upper mid-west! Winter happens every year." Now granted, this is the most snow they've had in a single snowfall since 1967, but even that is really within living memory. Some time in November, the emergency supplies go into my car: a blanket, several energy bars, a bottle of water, a bag of hard candies, a candle in a tin, and a shovel. Thankfully, I've really only ever needed the shovel and wanted the water, but I wouldn't dream of facing even the remote possibility of being stuck without them.
The piece on the collapsed roofs partially spelled out what I was thinking: pitched roofs are stronger and far less likely to collapse than flat roofs. My added thought was why would you build a flat roof where you are likely to get a lot of snow? Of course, a couple of the instances were gas station canopies, so they are exactly "buildings." The news piece also noted that homes are not allowed to be built with flat roofs in these areas, so all the affected buildings were either commericial (warehouse and offices) or garages. That's something anyway.
Now the shut down of the mid-south and the lower mid-west due to lack of snow and ice removal equipment is something completely different and I completely sympathize with everyone in those areas.
One gentleman interviewed in Chicago who was stuck in his car for 9 hours said he started to "expect the worst" because he has no food or water in the car. I'd like to feel sympathy for him, but at the same time, part of my brain is shouting, "You live in the upper mid-west! Winter happens every year." Now granted, this is the most snow they've had in a single snowfall since 1967, but even that is really within living memory. Some time in November, the emergency supplies go into my car: a blanket, several energy bars, a bottle of water, a bag of hard candies, a candle in a tin, and a shovel. Thankfully, I've really only ever needed the shovel and wanted the water, but I wouldn't dream of facing even the remote possibility of being stuck without them.
The piece on the collapsed roofs partially spelled out what I was thinking: pitched roofs are stronger and far less likely to collapse than flat roofs. My added thought was why would you build a flat roof where you are likely to get a lot of snow? Of course, a couple of the instances were gas station canopies, so they are exactly "buildings." The news piece also noted that homes are not allowed to be built with flat roofs in these areas, so all the affected buildings were either commericial (warehouse and offices) or garages. That's something anyway.
Now the shut down of the mid-south and the lower mid-west due to lack of snow and ice removal equipment is something completely different and I completely sympathize with everyone in those areas.