the snowstorm

[low_delta]

On February 5th, we had a really bad snowstorm. Well over a foot of snow everywhere. From Madison, I heard reports of motorists being stranded for five hours on the freeway. It turns out that it was much worse than that. The day after the storm, Governor Doyle ordered an inquiry.

Here are a couple of highlights from the event timeline:
11:14 am. An accident blocks the northbound lanes of I-90.
4 pm. TV station reports people starnded on the freeway since 11:30 am.
5:15 pm. Having heard no reports of large-scale accidents or blockages, the emergency center makes plans to close.
5:40 pm. The emergency center hears of the backup.
1:23 am. Snowmobiles are dispatched to wake drivers and get them moving.

The State patrol is taking a lot of heat for refusing to close the highway. They say that there was no way to turn traffic around or safely reroute it. I can understand that, but they also refused to report to the public that it was impassable. How are you going to keep even more people from thinking they can travel?

In the evening, Dane County dispatched people on snowmobiles (not sure who. DNR? local clubs?) to check on stranded people. People stuck in their cars since noon, probably hadn't had anything to eat all day, were freezing, maybe run out of gas. People who needed information and reassurance. The State patrol refused Rock County's request, for a while. No, you can't go out there. It's dangerous. Like... they were going to get hit by a truck or something?

Notice it's exactly fourteen hours between the start of the crisis, until the snowmobiles are dispatched to wake drivers and get them moving? I wonder how long it took to get all the stranded motorists moving. I wonder what they were doing for them in the meantime. Use of the National Guard was authorized at 7pm. What were they assigned to do? They did deliver food, water and blankets. What could have been done? Even the official review doesn't have many suggestions for the people on the ground.


newspaper story

newspaper timeline

Report by the Adjutant General of Wisconsin

Comments

[lacachet.livejournal.com]

Very odd story, I always think that the midwest is so well prepared for bad winter weather. Living out here (Seattle), people stay home, schools close etc, at the merest sign of snow--which used to crack me up, after all my years living and driving in Minnesota!

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

It doesn't usually bother most people. Four inches ties up traffic, but we still go about our day. A foot or a foot and a half is different. I think we could learn a few things from western New York.

Another issue is money. Around here, they send the plows out to salt when the snow starts, but then pull them off the roads until it stops snowing. They don't have the budget to keep them out there continuously. But when you get six or more inches, that won't keep the roads clear enough to keep traffic moving. So their hands are tied by budgetary constraints. (At least that's what they'll tell you. I think they need to keep the roads reasonably clear, and make up for the money somewhere else.) On top of that, the last decade or two have been so light on snow that the budgets have dropped.

Getting back to what you said, we don't appear as well-prepared as we used to. When I was a kid, we didn't close schools on account of cold. Only snowfall that prevented people from getting to school. Nowdays, extreme cold is considered dangerous. And the amount of snow it takes to close school is getting smaller. Parents complain about having to go out in the snow, and officials capitulate. "It's dangerous! I could have gotten in an accident. It's not worth risking life and limb just to get my kid to school!"

[vocalista001.livejournal.com]

Wow that was along time before emergency services heard there was a problem. Yikes.

I wonder if there'll be a rise in babies born in Early November? Did the snowmobile Emergency guys report a lot of frosted over windows?

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I can picture the "discussion."


Aw, c'mon! We need to generate some warmth.

Don't you think we should be conserving our energy?


I think the nervousness of how you'll survive might cause a little performance anxiety in some participants. ;-)

[whathisname.livejournal.com]

I wanna be an adjutant general. Can I wear a uniform? With medals?

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I didn't know you liked adjuting.