Aaron sends word that the Enterprise on Georgia Ave deposited all the snow from their lot onto the sidewalk.
I checked it out and the piles were gigantic. But I did see a guy trying to chop through it so maybe they have fixed the situation. Aaron also sends this rather cool artistic path:
Photo by PoPville flickr user Suse_dc
The following was written by Josh Glasstetter in American City.
Snow Excuse
Right now, the city is inadvertently letting sidewalk scofflaws off the hook. If a sidewalk isn’t cleared, the city is supposed to clear it and charge the cost to the responsible party—plus a $25 maximum fine. That sounds good in theory, but the city simply doesn’t have a shovel-wielding army to unleash on city sidewalks. The result is that many sidewalks go uncleared, and nobody pays for it—except for the city’s pedestrians.
Washington needs an ordinance that has teeth and can be enforced. If some residents, landlords, and business owners are unwilling to clear their sidewalks, then the city should be able to issue citations akin to parking tickets. The police and public works employees clearly have their hands full during snowstorms, so citations should be issued primarily by other city employees (e.g. parking enforcement staff). And the city could prioritize enforcement by relying largely on tips from 311.
I, for one, would eagerly phone in a report about about a grocery store near me—fully staffed and open for business, but with unshoveled sidewalks—or the gas stations I’ve passed with plowed and salted lots but unshoveled sidewalks. But without a revised law on the books, there’s little any pedestrian can do but trudge on in disgust.
You can read the full story here. Do you agree? Does DC need to change its shoveling laws?
Even I’m getting bored of snowman of the day…
Photo by PoPville flickr user norbert
From a reader:
“I know there has been many names for this storm but I’m calling it Moby Dick.
If I have to shovel one more inch…
… to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.
Yep big, white and a pain in the ass”
Awesome! Your poems welcome in the comments!
Photo by PoPville flickr user rjs1322
What are folks doing who have to walk their dogs? Is it simply insane?
And just in from the folks at Taylor Gourmet – both of their stores are open today (1116 H Street NE and 485 K St NW). If you know of other places open please leave in comments but unless you have to walk the dog it might be best just to stay home.
Photo from PoPville Flickr user Sanjay Suchak
On Thursday, February 11th, Food & Friends needs 20 volunteers to deliver meals, especially those with 4-wheel-drive vehicles. Those without cars would be very much appreciated in the kitchen, and it would be great if they could come between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Volunteers may sign up to [email protected]. This information is also available on our website at www.foodandfriends.org/winterstorm2010. Without Food & Friends, our clients likely will not eat, so the help of the community is vital. Meals may be picked up from Food & Friends (219 Riggs Road, NE/Washington, DC) between 10 a.m. and 12 a.m., we will provide detailed delivery directions, and routes should take no more than 3 hours. For more information, prospective volunteers may call 202.841.5347.
Since lots of people are still at home your videos won’t be blocked by the man. So I’m gonna share a couple that were sent to me. This is a great one with lots of fun footage from Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park. I’ll be posting another one called ‘Cabin Fever’ later this afternoon.
Washington, DC Snow Storm from Es Video! on Vimeo.
Photo by PoPville flickr user rosiedawn
“Dear PoP,
With all the snow we have had, and more on the way, you may want to do an article about the dangers of snow / ice falling onto your head from above. We live in a Victorian-style rowhouse on capital hill with no awning, and most of the houses around us are similar. During this storm, as well as the last bad one, I was struck on the head by falling snow / ice that was jarred loose by the opening and closing of my front door. The sloping roof seems to lend itself to the accumulation of overhanging ice and snow with sharp icicles. This afternoon, we heard a huge crash as the ice and snow from next door that was hanging right above the entrance door fell crashing down onto the porch. It was about 60 – 80 pounds of snow and ice hanging 8-10 inches over the roofline, complete with razor-sharp icicles. A little melt from the sun and it let go catastrophically. Long time residents are aware of the danger, but newbies may not be. The solution? Open the tops of your upstairs windows while standing on the sill, and reach up with a broom to knock the dangerous overhanging snow and ice off the roofline. Please post this warning, as, if someone had been standing on the porch next door when the avalanche occurred, they could have been seriously hurt or even killed!”
A reader asked about this in one of yesterday’s comments but I thought it was worth a separate post. At one point should we start to freak out about our roofs? If we get another 20″ are we in trouble? If the roof is slightly pitched will it be ok? Anyone know roughly how many inches of snow our roofs can support? I feel like I hear 18″ somewhere. It is not possible for many of us to shovel our roofs, if that is the case do we just drink and hope for the best?
I guess lots of folks are thinking about this because I just received the following email:
“I live in one of those two-story mini-houses discussed here with some frequency. It’s 13-feet wide, 30-some feet deep and two stories tall without a basement.
My question is this: Should I shovel my roof? My adjoining neighbor just did so to explore a leak that developed on Sunday and he must have pushed tons of snow off the edge. I wonder if all that weight could breach the roof or cause it to fail? Now there’s more snow coming — more than this house has seen in years — and although my roof has never given me any trouble, it is more than a decade old. If anybody is wondering, my roof has a slight pitch back from the street, probably less than 10%.”
Not sure if the National Guard was deployed but this Humvee was spotted on Taylor Street in Petworth on Sunday.
