I don't know if any of you saw it on the news, but the American Midwest was hit pretty hard by a snowstorm last night. Most communities, especially those in the north, took proper precautions, and although the weather is bad, they are doing all right.
Not so in Kansas City. Year after year our local government forgets everythign they ever learned about dealing with winter weather and is caught flat-footed and stupid the first time there's a winter storm.
Last night was a classic example. It started raining at about 6pm and all the forecasts said the temperature would drop below 25F. Any rational city would immediately start putting salt and sand on the streets to keep things from going all pear shaped, but our city is anything but rational. Not only did they let rain freeze into a slippery slab of death, they are in the process of scraping all the snow off of it. Which, of course, eliminates any traction that 1/4 inch could have provided.
So the highways are parking lots and cars are in the ditch every tenth of a mile. It took me an extra 2 hours to get into work this morning.
In a day or two, the mayor's office will issue an apology and the salt and plow trucks will get their asses in gear for the next storm (if we have one). But all will be forgotten next year, and I'll copy and paste this rant back here again.
Not so in Kansas City. Year after year our local government forgets everythign they ever learned about dealing with winter weather and is caught flat-footed and stupid the first time there's a winter storm.
Last night was a classic example. It started raining at about 6pm and all the forecasts said the temperature would drop below 25F. Any rational city would immediately start putting salt and sand on the streets to keep things from going all pear shaped, but our city is anything but rational. Not only did they let rain freeze into a slippery slab of death, they are in the process of scraping all the snow off of it. Which, of course, eliminates any traction that 1/4 inch could have provided.
So the highways are parking lots and cars are in the ditch every tenth of a mile. It took me an extra 2 hours to get into work this morning.
In a day or two, the mayor's office will issue an apology and the salt and plow trucks will get their asses in gear for the next storm (if we have one). But all will be forgotten next year, and I'll copy and paste this rant back here again.