Deja Vu (We've Been Here Before)

Since I was literally trapped in my house all day on Saturday and had plenty of time to spend on my computer, I was able to dig up this little "gem" regarding a blizzard we had 13 years ago that most of us have probably long-forgotten by now. How old were you and where were you when it hit the city? Well, yesterday's snow storm brought back some pretty incredible memories of that blizzard for me... like the fact that there were street vendors selling t-shirts that read, "I Survived The Blizzard Of '96!" If you've got a minute, take a walk down memory lane and read this article about it that I found on the internet. It should refresh your memory and give you a pretty good idea of what we're in for when the snow finally stops falling (smile)!

PHILADELPHIA, January 10, 1996: Somewhere under that mound of snow on Venango Street was Eddie Morris's Chevrolet Cavalier. "I don't know how I'm going to get it out," Mr. Morris said glumly. Or, more important, when. "It's a rental car," he said. "I got it on Saturday. They called me today and asked when I was bringing it back. I don't know what I'm going to do."

Few places along the East Coast were hit as hard by last weekend's blizzard as Philadelphia. Here, the official tally was just over 30 inches, a city record, and by Tuesday night, cleanup crews had dumped 2,000 tons of snow into the Schuylkill. By today, their efforts had enabled many parts of the city, including downtown, to spring to life again, with government offices and nearly all restaurants and retail stores operating as usual. But round-the-clock plowing to clear the city's 490 miles of main roads and the expectations of Mayor Edward G. Rendell that 700 miles of secondary routes would be passable by Thursday were lost on people like Mr. Morris.

A 73 year old retired steelworker, Mr. Morris lives on what the Mayor called a "tertiary street," and just about the only way tertiary streets would be cleared, Mr. Rendell said at a news conference today, was through the efforts of local residents. "This was a natural disaster of huge proportions," the Mayor insisted, pointing out time and again that the 30 inches of snow exceeded the previous record by 50 percent. "If we get another 6 inches, God help us."

Mr. Rendell said he had no idea how much this storm was costing the city, especially with another predicted for the weekend. The only comparison he offered was the icy winter of two years ago that cost $13 million, a quarter of which was returned to the city from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But this storm was likely to cost much more than that winter, he said, and he fully expected more than a 25 percent return from the Federal Government, even in the midst of tortuous budget negotiations in Washington. "Even with eight states asking for $20 million each, that's small potatoes," Mr. Rendell said, adding that much less than a 25 percent return for Philadelphia's costs "would clobber the city budget."

For the most part, Philadelphia has coped well with the storm. By today, many of the city's major roadways were dry, and traffic moved smoothly, if slowly, through the grid of narrow streets in downtown sections that have been traversed since colonial times. In addition, stories are rampant about the good deeds of neighbors helping neighbors by transporting senior citizens to doctors' appointments, by shoveling out a driveway or by pushing a car out of a rut.

Still, by Mr. Rendell's accounting, those living along the city's 900 miles of tertiary streets would be left to fend for themselves, and in some cases, that meant hardship and anger. "My block is the same way," said Aleshia Patterson, surveying Venango Street where Mr. Morris's car was buried. "This makes me angry. I can't get to work."

An office cleaner and mother of four, who earns $60 a day, Ms. Patterson said she has not been able to get to her job in Plymouth Meeting, a northwestern suburb 15 miles away, since last week. Normally, she said, she drives, but both of her cars are snowbound. "A lot of my neighbors take the subway to work, but the subway takes me nowhere," she said. Her only alternative, she added, was four buses, but she did not know if they were all running or how long the trip might take.

Like countless other blocks around the city, Venango between Camac Street and Old York Road was not only unplowed, but socked in by barricades of snow walls, created by snow trucks clearing out larger cross streets. Mr. Rendell argued that these smaller streets were simply too narrow for city plow trucks to squeeze through, especially with cars parked on both sides. "Even if an emergency vehicle had to get through," he said, "people would have to go to the corner and walk. We can still walk."

By afternoon, a band of hearty neighbors had opened the Old York Road end of Venango, freeing nine cars. But several other vehicles were still submerged, and none of the shovelers ventured a guess as to when they might move again. March? April? Those suggestions made Jerry Randolph, a resident of the block, laugh. "With cars on both sides, we knew we had to get together to get it done," Mr. Randolph said.

George Bradley, a 60-year-old mechanic, was still shoveling snow late in the day. "This is the only way we can get out," he said. "I've got to try to go to work." Mr. Morris was hardly as cheerful as the others. In addition to the inconvenience, this was costing him $23 a day, and the agent he spoke to at the rental company, he said, did not sound sympathetic.

To prevent such problems in the future, Mr. Rendell had at last a few helpful words of explanation for residents who might not know the difference between secondary roads and tertiary roads. "You know you're a tertiary road," he said, "if you haven't been plowed for decades."

UPDATE 12/23/09: Please be aware that it is being reported that the City of Philadelphia is beginning to issue $ 50.00 tickets to residents who have not yet cleared a path in the snow on the sidewalk in front of their property. Apparently, too many pedestrians are posing a hazard to drivers and themselves by walking in the streets because of unclear sidewalks.