Snowzilla blows through the US... but leaves few deaths in her wake.
By ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
February 8, 2011 6:27pm CST
The old Chinese curse says, "May you live in interesting times". Well, life got more than just interesting for over 100,000,000 Americans during last week's Snowzilla blizzards.
It hit everyone from the South Rockies to New England, interrupting schedules, disrupting lives and leaving people stranded in the snow. It created unexpected days off for countless school students, workers and employers alike. It was probably one of the few days most home schooled kids truly envied those who get their education in more traditional ways.
Geographically speaking it was the biggest storm in recorded US history... but in the ways we normally assess the size of a disaster, it barely tipped the scale.
I've seen a few reports on the number of deaths attributed to Snowzilla, 2011... in all accounts it was less than 20. That is nothing short of miraculous when you consider how many people were affected.
On a lighter note, I went to the Sheboygan beach of Lake Michigan... here's a link to some video I took of the wonders I saw there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftg5nNqdSqY&feature=feedu
3 people like this
7 responses
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
9 Feb 11
Yeah, it isn't the inches that make this SnowZilla.. it was the vast area that was effected.
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
9 Feb 11
Oh, that looks SO cold!! But it is beautiful. Much better to see a video than to be out there myself.
I'm very surprised that the mortality was so low in these storms but I'm grateful, too. We do live in interesting times and it's nearly impossible to be bored if one is aware of world events. It's scary, too.
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
9 Feb 11
Thanks for sharing. I grew up in the western part of Minnesota and we had worse blizzards back then. 1969 I could walk out my second story bedroom onto the snow banks! Yes..a full two story house and the snow was piled that high. For six weeks we never had a full day of school!! They would get the roads cleared, then the wind would come up. They had airplanes dropping meds to the farmers as they couldn't get and keep all the road open for them to get to town. It is amazing what winter and the weather can bring.
@olivebranch56 (910)
• United States
9 Feb 11
All that snow and not a snowman in sight...What gives Ted? Where is your sense of adventure? Wow! it looked cold as a snowmans rear, I bet the wind was biting. We may get a couple of inches here tomorrow night, crossing my fingers. We don't get much snow so we look forward to the little we do get.
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
9 Feb 11
Very cool footage! I actually love storms and was very excited because this was one that I didn't have to travel to work in. Still, I did go out in it...couldn't resist. I agree that this really didn't seem all that bad. After the ice storm a couple of years ago ....this was really nothing ...seemed so anyway.
@elena1969 (153)
•
9 Feb 11
Snow is a nice thing,it's a symbol of piece and rebirth.Yes the snowzilla blizzars made it hard for a lot of people to be able to do their daily routine,but what the heck there should be achange in a while in someone's life right.I saw the video it is really a bit frighting,but in my country in the winter this is a normal thing to happen.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
9 Feb 11
hi parated wow those are some drifts. I came from South Dakota originallu so I saw a lot of huge snow drifts during my growing up time. nOw if I went back home to visit after being here in Southern California all thee years I would really freeze. We had a cold wind here a few nights ago that was almost freezing and thats not typical weather even in mid winter here. But we were spared the snow and ice storms that hit the rest of the US. The small number of deaths from this huge sto rms really are a miracle. thanks for the lovely photographs.
