Tag Archives: Disaster_Accident

The huge snow storm that has hit the north eastern United States has made people think twice about the global warming myth. With snow piling up, widespread power outages and roofs collapsing under the weight of the powdery mess, people no more than ever are laughing at the notion of global warming.

At least three buildings have suffered roof collapses in the D.C. area because of the snow. Part of the roof of a house on the 3400 block of 10th Street NE collapsed Saturday morning.

“This is one of our worst fears,” says D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin. “If the roof systems begin to collapse it’s going to take a lot of resources and is going to be very difficult.” Rubin says that there are no injuries, and that one person is inside the house, but is safe.

Rubin says that there needs to be preventative maintenance done to roofs before major storms like this. “A mere 250 gallons of water, which is not a lot of water, equals one ton of weight,” says Rubin.

Meanwhile, politics as usual has come to a screeching halt in Washington DC. People have been jamming the isles of supermarkets stocking up on essentials.

In Dover, Del., Shanita Foster lugged three gallons of water out of a Dollar General store. “That’s all we need right now. We’ve got everything else,” said Foster, adding that she was ready with candles in case the power went out.

Shoppers jammed aisles and emptied stores of milk, bread, shovels, driveway salt and other supplies. Many scrambling for food and supplies were too late.

The snow comes less than two months after a Dec. 19 storm dumped more than 16 inches on Washington. Snowfalls of this magnitude – let alone two in one season – are rare in the area. According to the National Weather Service, Washington has gotten more than a foot of snow only 13 times since 1870.

The heaviest on record was 28 inches in January 1922. The biggest snowfall for the Washington-Baltimore area is believed to have been in 1772, before official records were kept, when as much as 3 feet fell, which George Washington and Thomas Jefferson penned in their diaries.