20070220 How bad was last week’s snowstorm

How bad was last week’s snowstorm in Westminster Maryland?

Daily Photoblog: February 20th, 2007

While I was in Key West Florida last week, I would call the Westminster Street Department and Carroll County PIO, Vivian Laxton, W.A.B. as often as possible and raze them that I was in 90-degree weather and they were in temperatures in the single digits.

They were in the ice and the snow at all hours of the night and day, plowing snow and chipping ice and I was sitting on my back balcony strategically positioned with my laptop overlooking the Caribbean Sea.

They vowed to get me back.

Well, they did.

Pictured above is the igloo they made of my house with tons of snow which greeted me upon my arrival late Monday afternoon, February 19th, 2007.

Not to worry. I simply went inside and made a fresh cup of tea, hooked up the laptop and raised my office window just far enough that did not let too much cold air into the house, but my wife could still hear me as I cheered her on - - while she shoveled us out.

Man ole’ man was it hard work watching my wife do all that shoveling. Oh – she was happy to do it. You see, for Valentine’s Day I had purchased her a new snow shovel.

My wife is super. I’ll think I’ll keep her.

As for the Westminster Street Department; oh, I’ll get them back. Journalists in the print media may purchase ink by the barrel, but bloggers have an infinite amount of “ones” and “zeros” at their disposal. And me, I have the ink and the 1s and 0s.

Kevin
02/20/2007

20070216 County responds to major storm

County responds to major storm

Carroll County, Maryland, USA

February 16^th, 2007

While I was on the phone with Vivian Laxton, W.A.B., the public information officer for Carroll County; the picture above was my view from my office in Key West.

Ms. Laxton, please enjoy the picture and please know that the wind has picked up down here and the skies have become overcast. So much so that while I was talking with you on the phone, I had to put on a long sleeved shirt.

The bottom photo is from when I was I was talking with the Westminster Police Chief, Jeff Spaulding and Ashley Reams, a reporter with the Westminster Advocate, earlier in the day.

Yeah, I’m thinking of all of ya. We’re roughing it down here – and I know you care. I guess the temperature has dipped to the high 70s.

Anyway, now where was I? Oh, that’s right, the press release from Ms. Laxton, W.A.B., P.I.O. for Carroll County”

CARROLL COUNTY a great place to live, a great place to work, a great place to play

News Release

For more information, contact: Vivian D. Laxton, W.A.B., Public Information Administrator.

For Immediate Release

County responds to major storm

http://ccgovernment.carr.org/ccg/releases/stormtotals.pdf

February 15, 2007 - Carroll County's Department of Public Works employees spent approximately 6,160 man-hours clearing 973 miles of county-maintained roads during and after the winter storm that moved through the area Tuesday and Wednesday, February 13-14.

Crews began treating roads at 4 a.m. on Tuesday and continued well into Thursday. One to 3 inches of snow fell during the day Tuesday. Between 7 p.m. Tuesday and 7 a.m. Wednesday, another 6 to 7 inches of sleet fell over much of the county. When rain began to mix with sleet early Wednesday, the sleet soaked up the moisture like a sponge. The extreme weight of the
precipitation made it difficult for plows to move.

With approximately 110 employees clearing 50 snow plow routes, usually streets can be cleared of 6 inches of snow eight hours after the storm ends. Because of the heavy accumulation, the Valentine's Day storm took twice as long to clear. About 2,500 tons of salt were used by county crews. Sixty-two pieces of equipment, including 55 trucks, six motor graders and a rubber tire loader, were utilized by the county and its contractors to plow.

In addition, the county's Department of General Services had crews working from midnight Monday through Thursday to clear ice and sleet from parking lots at Carroll Community College, the Circuit Courthouses, senior centers, libraries, Carroll Area Transit Service, Board of Education, and county offices.

Approximately 51 employees worked to clear the lots and 2+ miles of sidewalks, half a mile of ramps and steps, and 15 trucks and numerous heavy-duty shovels and ice chippers. Two front-end loaders were rented to push the snow off the lots and to clear drains. The Bureau of Fleet Management worked 12-hour shifts to keep county trucks operating, fixing hydraulic lines and pumps, transmissions, rear axles, windshield wipers, and welds on plows.

The Office of Emergency Management continuously monitored conditions throughout the storm. The only major incident reported was a roof collapse at a barn in New Windsor. None of the 25 head of cattle inside was injured.

Because most businesses closed and residents stayed off the roads, the number of traffic accidents was kept to a minimum. Law enforcement agencies reported a total of 70 weather-related incidents through the duration of the storm, not counting in Westminster City.

# # #

20070214 Greetings from Key West

Greetings from Key West

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Happy Valentine’s Day
Around lunchtime, when I took the picture above, I got a phone call from WJZ reporter Mike Schuh[1]. He was in Westminster tracking down a snow story.

For twenty years as an elected official, I got to work with many great journalists from the print, radio, and TV media. Mike Schuh is one of the best of the best. Always pre-occupied with getting it right and reporting relevant and community-oriented news – he is “real people.”

For more on Mr. Schuh – go here. And be sure to read his “A Bakers Dozen of Sensible Schuh's.”

Later – I checked in on how Mr. Schuh was making-out getting the story in Westminster. I was at Southernmost Point at the time… I’ll post that picture separately…

















UPDATE: For Mr. Schuh’s reporting of the snow event in Westminster go here: http://wjz.com/video/?id=24955@wjz.dayport.com

_____

[1] Mike Schuh, WJZ Channel 13 Reporter

February 14th, 2007

http://wjz.com/bios/local_bio_053095449

Mike Schuh joined WJZ Eyewitness News as a general assignment reporter in April, 1993. In 2002 Mike won a Regional Edward R. Murrow award for feature reporting. During his career at Eyewitness News he has also earned 7 Emmy Awards for Hard News Investigations, General News Reporting and Features Reporting.

Mike came to WJZ after reporting for other television stations in Indianapolis, Louisville, Missouri and Illinois. In 1983 he received his B.S. Degree in News Reporting from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Mike lives near Towson with his wife and one very, very energetic daughter.