December 2008 Storm --consolidation thread (Seattle, Vancouver: appointed, to buy, school)

[mishigas73]

I have lived in many areas in the US, and have, quite frankly, yet to see any city deal with snow as poorly as Seattle and the surrounding areas. Not by a LONG shot.

It's so far been 3 days that my work in downtown Seattle has been closed, and Lord knows what will happen tomorrow.

Fact is "it happens" here, so the powers that be should have some sort of plan in place. I heard this morning that Puget Sound Energy brought in crews from Montana, Oregon, BC and California just in case of power outages. Why not the government for this snow that they know about at least 3 days in advance and they know that, in Seattle, they have 20 trucks for over 1500 miles of roads?

Just downright stupid.

[MaikeerinWA]

Alaska/Horizon cancelled all flights today, and they're not making any promises about Monday.

[MaikeerinWA]

Hmm, that sure is easy to say, isn't it?

Originally Posted by mishigas73

Fact is "it happens" here, so the powers that be should have some sort of plan in place.

[ElektroDragon]

Ok, so salt harms the environment even though its a natural substance. Well what about SAND then? Or a tax credit to buy a snowmobile? :-P

Are there any cities near the eastside that DO actually plow or sand? If so, I would like to move there because Kirkland does NOTHING.

[ElektroDragon]

Anyway, thank you for all your replies. I wanted to make sure I wasn't delusional. I am seeing a SNOWMOBILE going back and forth on the street at the apartment where I live in Kirkland. Boggles the mind.

[mishigas73]

Originally Posted by ElektroDragon

Are there any cities near the eastside that DO actually plow or sand? If so, I would like to move there because Kirkland does NOTHING.

Don't come up to Everett. Even their police department doesn't even try to clear their parking lot.

It's like stereotypical government workers....minimal work for good pay and benefits and such. "Oops, we didn't consider this."

It doesn't really help me when I'm trying to get up to Canada and have to seriously consider my plans after a snowstorm five days prior. Seriously PATHETIC.

[509]

Originally Posted by ElektroDragon

Ok, so salt harms the environment even though its a natural substance. Well what about SAND then? Or a tax credit to buy a snowmobile? :-P

Here in eastern Washington NOAA has put much pressure on the counties to cut back on the amount of sand they put on the roads. It harms spawning habitat for salmon.

More salmon on your side of the mountains....I don't think your going to be able to spread more sand around.

Really a trade-off between safety and salmon. Thank god, my friend is a salmon fisherman. He plunged 90 feet off the road and totaled his wife vehicle. His dog did get her pads cut, but he was able to crawl back up the road basically unhurt. But the important part is that NO SAND made it into the creek.

[mishigas73]

Originally Posted by 509

Really a trade-off between safety and salmon. Thank god, my friend is a salmon fisherman. He plunged 90 feet off the road and totaled his wife vehicle. His dog did get her pads cut, but he was able to crawl back up the road basically unhurt. But the important part is that NO SAND made it into the creek.

OMG, I truly don't know whether to laugh or cry.

No, actually, I do...I'll truly laugh at how moronic this is. Let's call the entire area to a halt for 3+ work days because of the possible detriment to the environment.

Yeah, I like the "Evergreen State", but, you know what? I also see the proverbial forest for the trees, and understand that business needs to go on in order for these purdy trees and fishies to survive.

[jenlion]

They have sanded the major road through our neighborhood in Redmond a few times .... the road is still pretty slick though. I was thinking hmm, maybe I'll look up bus schedules and routes to see if that bus stop near my house can get me to the grocery store... then I was reminded that the buses are skidding out of control too. :-)

My family is teasing me because we went on about how great it is to have snow nearby in the mountains but not HERE where we have to shovel it, and how it so RARELY freezes here, etc. Oops! We've been here 11 months now, but I was told not to expect this.

I was getting an oil change at the Firestone up here one day and overheard a conversation with an old dude training a new dude on tire sales. Old dude said, "Everyone thinks it NEVER snows up here. Well, they don't REMEMBER. It CAN and it WILL. Most of the people up here moved up here in the last five or ten years, and they've only lived here during these mild years. They don't know what it was like before that. It can ICE! It can SNOW! And you need SNOW TIRES for that!"

If this is truly a rare event, would we really want to store idle snowplows, and maintain them, etc?? Would it make sense?? If this happened every year like this, I would say it was needed... but if this happens only for a few days every few years, would that make sense??

I can say that Dallas deals with this just as poorly as Seattle. :-) They have some salt trucks for overpasses for when it ices, but in a good ice storm, you just stay home.

[mishigas73]

Originally Posted by jenlion

I can say that Dallas deals with this just as poorly as Seattle. :-) They have some salt trucks for overpasses for when it ices, but in a good ice storm, you just stay home.

But, yeah...I've honestly heard the "I grew up in Dallas and have seen this" crud in the past few days. This is BY NO MEANS Dallas, and the powers that be know it.

If they can get the electricians here, they certainly can get the snow plows here. From what I've heard, Vancouver BC can certainly spare a few...

There is no excuse that my office in downtown Seattle would be closed for the past three work days. None at all. Except that people rely on the idea that "oh, crap, we can't do anything about this".