snow’d in

[dragonlady7]

blizzard doesn't have a name?, didn't they used to name blizzards?, i thought it was dumb but i got used to it, anyway, happy holidays

via https://ift.tt/vg2cA8j

yeah we’re snowed in. total driving ban. all roads closed. they gave up on plowing about 20 hours ago. i haven’t heard an engine in two days, there are no cars going by on the big road that’s about 500 feet away. Nothing is plowed out.

This is actually the worst weather i’ve ever experienced in 17 years living here. There are no ambulances, no fire; emergency services has over 2/3 of its vehicles out of commission over the whole county. The National Guard has come and the sole thing they are doing is rescuing stranded motorists. One three-man team on snowmobiles has made over 50 rescues in 24 hours.

It’s unnerving to know that if I hurt myself and called for help no one would come. But on the other hand, I’m fine, my power is on, my heat is on, and I’m going to not use any knives or run up or down any staircases tonight. This did get me to go put a note through the neighbor’s mail slot with my phone number on it, and she texted me– 17 years we’ve lived next to one another, and have only spoken briefly in that whole time, but I said if you need anything I am here, and she texted back, I’m here too.

(listen we’re yankees, i wasn’t gonna knock. that’s not how we do. also then she’d have to open her door. in this cold? rude. no.)

It’s not that it’s snowed three feet– that’s not actually that weird an amount. But the winds are 50-70mph every time I check. So any snow falling is falling in drifts, and there’s no way to plow in this kind of wind. The lake has involved herself, naturally, but the wind is out of the southwest instead of the west, and that means us northern suburbs are fucked, which is not usually the case. Most of the county’s snowmobiles are stored in the Southtowns where the lake effect bands tend to settle when the wind is more typically out of the west, and they did not redeploy them ahead of this storm because this storm very much did also hit the Southtowns. It’s just lingering, up here, and we’re not prepared in the same way. People have died, from being stuck in cars or from needing an ambulance that couldn’t come, and that’s sobering.

But, I’m fine, and if I can’t get out of the house tomorrow we’ll do Christmas on Monday. (Your picture was not posted)

Comments

[galadhir]

Hope you're still okay and have plenty of food and power, and that you manage to have a relatively happy Christmas nevertheless.

[frith]

My phone rang on Saturday morning, no doubt to ask my if I could come in and fill in for someone. Oh no way, with the howling wind, freezing cold and snow drifts, I was not keen. Cars have been driving by and snowplows have been clearing the roads, but I'm not budging if I don't have to.