Northeast Blizzard will force cities to cut other Public Services

CNN -- Dealing with the storm could cost Danbury $450,000, more than half the city's snow removal budget for the entire winter, Boughton said. The fact that it fell on a Sunday helped drive up the costs because the crews got double-time.

Cities, counties and states are now totaling the financial damage of the holiday weekend blizzard that blanketed much of the East Coast. Most had to call in their entire public works departments, as well as hire outside contractors.

Virginia residents saw the after-effects of several major storms last winter. The state Department of Transportation, which maintains most of the highways and roads, had to spend more than $250 million on snow removal, far above the $94 million budgeted, said spokesman Jeff Caldwell.

As a result, the state had to cut back on non-priority maintenance, such as grass cutting and tree trimming. Instead of mowing the entire highway medians six times a year, for instance, workers only did it twice and only cut 10 feet on each side.

Basically the article suggests that cities can't afford a tough winter, and they may not hire enough people to properly clear the streets. Are you joking? Is this not the United States of America? We call ourselves the greatest country on Earth, but the only ones who float around the streats yelling that out are idiots who have never left this country. They probably refuse to cross to the other half of Niagra Falls. 

Look, this country isn't that great. We can't even afford to plow snow off our roads. I don't get why CNN bothers with this article. It won't change anything. They'll go over the budget because they have to. They can't just send out a message over the televisions and radios saying "By the way, we're broke so if you want to get somewhere, throw on some skis or strap a sled to your dogs."

I live literally 5 minutes away from Danbury, CT. I'm not quite sure where that $450,000 went. I saw city trucks on the roads early Sunday afternoon when there was still only a dusting on the ground. Get your shit together and maybe you can cut your costs back. I live in a town next door called New Fairfield. I heard on my lovely fire radio (one of the Asst. Chief's plows roads for the town as well) that some jackass  working for the town was pushing snow into the middle of one of the main roads, and the pile got up to about 10 feet, so the fire officer saw it and reported it to the dispatcher. It's not the snow to blame, it's the jackasses hired to remove it. 


Believe me when I say it's not just my town and neighboring towns with this issue, it's all of them. There's a reason why people in the upper mid-west will tell you they get this kind of shit snow storms on a weekly basis and have no problems with it. They know how to drive in the weather, and their local crews know when and how to plow it properly to maintain costs.