West Virginia crippled by massive snow storm

reply to post by MystikMushroom


Well, glad to hear your doing well.

I based what I said off of the local news here in Louisville interviewing a fellow out that way saying they wasn't prepared for all the snow and the loss of electricity. Which I would assume would make any snow storm a dangerous situation.

reply to post by Socrato


Apparently the last ice age when dinosaurs roamed the earth, they were found with Undigested food still in them. It happened very quickly.

I have noticed the seasons changing over the past 5 yrs . Spring starts late and summers last longer as far as temps go. It's about a two month delay where I live. I notice new species of insects too.

Outdoor plants used to be sold at nurseries or just any store in march or at least by April. Now they don't go on sale until may or June

reply to post by MystikMushroom

I live in Garrett County, MD. Garrett is the largest county in MD (not saying much) with the least population (25-30K). We were right in the heart of the Sandy snow storm (Red House 29"). Our area consists mainly of coal miners, teachers, medical and small buisness people. We get more than our fair share of snow, probably an average of over 150" yearly. We love our snow here since we are basically a resort area. Ski slopes, cross country skiing, snowmobiling and anything else snow related. More than capable of handling 3ft of snow. Typically we get several 3ft+ snow storms a year. Just a couple years ago we were over 262" of snow. Just shy of 22ft. Everyone I know drives 4WD/AWD vehicles and are more than capable of being self-sustaining. The problem with the snow storm was the weather was very mild up until about 3pm on Monday, meaning 45 deg+. The snow was very wet and heavy, causing powerlines and trees to fall over and rip apart like popsicle sticks. Over 15k people in Garrett County alone still do not have power as of Thursday and this is only 1 county in 1 state. That wet heavy snow was soaked with some freezing rain that just made things even more messy. Our gas stations ran out of fuel, grocery stores had food spoil and our Hospital (my wife is a nurse in the ICU) was functioning on 1 generator. I spent 12hrs shoveling, plowing and manuevering my way through less than single lane country roads to round up family members to get them to safety. I had to drive 20 miles, which took over an hour, to get enough food, fuel and other necessities to get through the next several days. We have local Potomac Edison employees working 16hrs at a clip to get power to all of our residents. We even had a million dollar home burn to the foundation because the fire department couldn't get back to the house. The problem is that through the states, it is so rural that 10 miles takes you 30 minutes on an 80 deg sunny afternoon. People that want to help can't, and the people who need the help the most can't receive it. It's ugly, but I can assure you that the 1st thing I saw Tuesday evening was a group of kids having a snowball fight on main st in our town. 3ft isn't alot of snow, we laugh at the people who freak out and clear the shelves of bread and water. But I've lived here all of my life (30+ years) and there was no way for anyone to prepare. The only preparation for scenarios like this is a strong family, friend and community. Luckily, our surrounding areas have all of these. Lord nows the states aren't showing the compasion needed. We times like these arise, don't count on your government to dig you out, grab 2 shovels, hand it to your neighbor and dig your own f*$@#*g way out!

reply to post by Sly1one


I understand where you are coming from.

But the MSM is focusing more on NJ/NY than other areas.

Also, I can relate to what you said, about you being from Colorado so snow is no biggy for you.
Same with us down on the Gulf Coast.....
After all the hurricanes we endure from Florida all the way west to Texas, this is nothing new for us.
[destruction and loss of property/business]
And yet, the news media acts like they themselves have never seen damage like that before.
[maybe not in that specific area]

That being said, I feel sorry for those people because they did not realize the full extent of damage that they would endure. They are not use to it.

The one thing that set them apart from down here, is something I saw on the news today......
----Transportation-------

People actually fighting and shoving to get on buses.
Taxi's are few.....
People that do have a car are stuck in traffic for hours.
Shortage of gas......which is par for the course.
One guy offered this couple a ride for $50 bucks....of course they said no.
So a lot of people are having to walk, which they are not accustomed to.
Part of the subway system should be up and running in a day or 2.

In Biloxi/Gulfport Ms. there have been homes along the coast since I was a kid.....
After Katrina, nothing was left except the slab they stood on. [those people lost EVERYTHING!!!]
You couldn't make heads or tails of any land mark.
Every thing gone.....
Very heartbreaking to say the least.

Any way, didn't mean for this to be hyped up, just didn't want these people to go unforgotten because of the focus being on NJ/NY.

PEACE
snarky

My parents live in Charleston WVa.

THEY WILL NOT WAKE UP!!!!

Meaning, this last summer, they lost power in the 100 degree heat for NINE DAYS! They are in their 80's.

Now, they have not had any power since Sunday morning. Do you think Dad would go out and buy a generator???

NO!

And they have a fireplace, BUT the TV set is IN THE FIREPLACE! Do you think the old geezer would take it out and build a fire to keep him and Mom warm?

NO!

And here I sit in Paradise... I have relocated from Berkeley CA to Phoenix AZ.. I am very warm :-)

Someone go knock some sense into my Father please!

Originally posted by TheCounselor
West Virginians are a different crop. In contact with a friend that lives there, he's posting pictures and his children are playing in the snow. They expect this, and are used to this. Many are farmers with their own supplies set in, and survival skills. Very tough people. They play bluegrass medleys on the porch.

Good to know, thanks for posting that.

Maybe Sly1one was correct about the hype......
But I guess I like to hear of others affected by the storm other than what the MSM is focusing on.

After Katrina, all we heard about was New Orleans.......
The flooding there happened AFTER the storm passed when the levies broke.
[which was horrific]

What pissed so, so many people off were the ones in areas that had severe damage from the storm but were ignored due to the coverage focusing on N.O.
[not taking away from their misery by no means].

But for a lot of people, many small towns were nearly devastated along the LA/MS gulf coast.
And many were irked due to lack of coverage.

To this day, when people say Katrina, they think only of N.O........

I guess I just wanted WV to know that some do care and hope that they are alright.

Take care is all I can say. if I were there I would probably try to help

That's not snow. THIS is SNOW! (Don't get me wrong, I grew up in the snowbelt in upstate NY and I know how bad heavy wet snow can be, but the picture you posted is windswept drifts, which tend to look more impressive).

www.snopes.com...

Originally posted by signalfire
That's not snow. THIS is SNOW! (Don't get me wrong, I grew up in the snowbelt in upstate NY and I know how bad heavy wet snow can be, but the picture you posted is windswept drifts, which tend to look more impressive).

www.snopes.com...

you should point out also, that those pictures are the trans-labrador highway, 800+ miles NNE of upstate new york... and THAT much snow would totally cripple even the hardiest of the snow-belt portions of the US.

reply to post by signalfire


Holy cow!! I've never seen that much, You would literally be stranded in your house for like a month.

reply to post by Sly1one


Interesting, I find myself replying to you on two topics...

You need to consider that it's 22 inches of WET snow in Gatlinburg, not that powdery foo-foo stuff you get most of the time in CO. Wet snow is a heck of a lot harder to deal with, you should know that.

It is a very good idea to be prepared for power outages and extreme temperature changes where ever you live... Here in East Texas, I am having to use my air conditioner to cool down the house at night so we can sleep. When my wife is outdoors she is covered head to toe and wears a hat with mosquito netting even this late into the year... I have never seen as many types of biting insects as we are seeing here lately and tropical weeds as well as cactus is more abundant than ever... The high temperature here yesterday tied the record for the month and day when it reached 88 F degrees and today is going to be even warmer.... We were talking about looking for a tractor PTO driven electric generator just yesterday... With the heat and sparse rainfall we have a lot of fallen trees to cut and split for heat so storing food and water is something we need to get on top of... There is a hell of a lot of wild hogs and deer that harbor in the heavily wooded acreage I own so we won't be hurting for meat.. Because of the type of heavy rains, that are the only kind we get here,our road washes out a couple of times a year so having a 4WD Subaru Forester and 4WD Kubota tractor... Climate change is a reality but those that already live in a harsh environment are usually better prepared than those that dwell in a city or in areas with less extreme weather situations..