Digging out in Leavenworth (Photo courtesy of the Seattle Times)
Unprecedented Snow in Leavenworth (Photo courtesy of the Seattle Times)
It is all but assured that after every major snowstorm, in any town really, there will be annoyed residents. They will be irked that their street has not been plowed or plowed well enough. They will be incensed that, once their street is plowed, a berm has been pushed into their driveway. They will be irritated that their neighbors have not shoveled their portion of the sidewalk. Parents and teachers will be angry at what seems to them to be unnecessary snow days or delayed starts. Some will be vexed because there is school despite the perceived perilous condition of roads, sidewalks, and parking lots.
The January 6-7, 2022 snowstorm that socked Central Washington was not just a major snowstorm. The wintery broadside that affected the Upper Valley, including Leavenworth, Plain and Lake Wenatchee the most, was a historic 48-hour dump of snow, leaving the City of Leavenworth with over 36 inches and up to four feet in many pockets of the area. Highways, roads, ski resorts, businesses, and schools were closed, the latter for an unmatched three straight days, which likely would have been five had the storm not hit two days prior to the weekend.
So, all the usual angst and exasperation were intensified by the magnitude of the storm. Add a dose of noxious social media commentary and crankiness, and it might have appeared that we were all going to be housebound for the remainder of the month. Yet, that was not the case and, within hours, the city and school district began to dig out. Within days, they were up and running.
Rather than dwell upon what did not get done, let us applaud the efforts and accomplishments of the City’s Department of Public Works and the Cascade School District Facilities and Maintenance Department. The administrators, staff, and equipment operators worked long hours to help get our communities moving again. Many, if not all, put in double and triple shifts through the storm itself and returned to the job soon thereafter.
Christie Voos, Communications Analyst for the City stated that out of “concern for life safety and structure stability in the community at large,” Mayor Carl Florea, on January 7th, declared an emergency disaster. “The emergency declaration allow[ed] the City to use local resources that [could] aid quickly, instead of going through a normal bidding process, and is a pre-requisite for state and federal emergency aid funding. The mayor also approved Tom Wachholder, Public Works Director, to request aid from the National Guard for assistance with citizen welfare checks, food delivery, general snow cleanup, and private driveway snow removal.” Wachholder also worked with local contractors and services to provide emergency aid including snow storage and snow removal.
Leavenworth City Councilman, Marco Aurilio, commenting on what he labeled a “one-hundred-year event, during which the 18-25 inches of snow forecast became 35-45 inches on the ground in 48 hours,” asserted that the City of Leavenworth “was not prepared for the storm because there is no good reason for a city, at any given time, to prepare for a once- a-hundred years storm.” Aurilio noted, though, that once the Public Works Department understood the magnitude of the situation, it “came up with a plan and, under the direction of Tom Wachholder, did an amazing job.”
Cascade High School Principal Elia Ala'ilima-Daley stated that “it was the first time in [his] 29 years that we have closed for more than one snow day at a time. No one could have expected such an unprecedented storm. Even if we could have, we do not have the equipment to remove snow in that volume.” Theresa Disher, Facilities Director for the District observed that “typically we receive two to ten inches of snow in any given storm. Occasionally, we can get up to a foot or a little more. January’s storm was considerably bigger than we’ve ever seen.” Disher went on to explain that the District does all of its snow removal “in-house” and had to scramble to line up contractors, as its equipment “just did not have the capability” to handle the unrivaled onslaught.
There are, of course, lessons to be learned from the cleanup effort and some legitimate reasons to grumble about areas neglected or poorly addressed. Those lessons should be learned and not ignored. However, our administrators, staffers and operators deserve more credit than they are often afforded. When the next storm hits, whether it be mundane or extraordinary, let us all practice patience and understanding. As freshman Savanna Rowles put it: “I think the city and school district did pretty well and did as much as they could, given the situation. It was very difficult to manage that much snow. Besides, I’m not opposed to a snow day or two!”
What are your thoughts on the cleanup effort after the early January storm? Let us know in the comments below.
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