It took until July of 2015 for the accumulated snow and ice to melt in Boston from its Feb. 15 blizzard, which dropped a foot of snow on top of the 6 feet already there.
"Worst ever!" Bostonians complained, pointing fingers at everyone and everything from politicians to the polar vortex that brought the Siberian Express across the Northeast. Boston's 2014-2015 winter snowfall totaled 110.6 inches.
But was Boston's unusual winter the "worst ever"?
Consider the Jan. 24, 1977, blast that buried Buffalo, N.Y., under 156 inches of snow — 13 feet of the stuff — accompanied by 69 mph winds and a wind chill of minus-50 degrees.
Buffalo sits at the eastern end of Lake Erie. As a winter storm blows across the lake, the storm prepares a disaster for Buffalo. One news report said, "Buffaloanians talked about snowstorms like other parts of the country can name each hurricane or earthquake. Sometimes these storms make their way into the region's folklore." The Blizzard of 1977 certainly did.
A storm to remember
For the Buffalo Fire Department, the storm was a catastrophe. "The story of the fire [at Whitney Place, an older section of Buffalo] lies not in the losses, tragic as they were, but in the extraordinary efforts of Buffalo firefighters," wrote Paul C. Ditzel in "Buffalo Snow Alert," in the December 1977 issue of Firehouse. "Under incredibly difficult conditions, they saved a densely-populated neighborhood from almost certain destruction without the loss of a single life."
Imagine fighting a fire where water freezes as it leaves the fire hose, providing the fire truck can reach the fire and find an unfrozen hydrant. The department was already under-manned and overwhelmed with many rescue responses for broken water pipes and downed power lines. The storm hit about noon, immediately reducing visibility to near-zero and dropping the temperature to minus-4 degrees.
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Pedestrians in downtown Buffalo pick their way over or through snow-bound street corners following the Blizzard of 1977 in this photo from Feb. 7, 1977. (AP Photo)
Desperate situation
Thousands of people fled the downtown, seeking to get home, but traffic quickly gridlocked and poor visibility caused hundreds of accidents, blocking intersections. Cars ran out of gas, and trucks and buses stalled. Then came 50 fire alarms and 98 calls for rescue. Drifts as high as 25 feet blocked the way for fire trucks and rescue vehicles. Ice built up on everything water touched, and snow plows could not move. Buffalo was locked in an iceberg.
Nine days later on Feb. 2, "the situation was desperate," and Gov. Hugh Carey activated the state Mobilization Mutual Aid Plan, unused over the previous 20 years. Volunteers came from as far as Long Island and emergency equipment was air-lifted to the Niagara Falls Airport. A few days later, President Jimmy Carter declared Buffalo a national disaster area.
Other major hits
A year later it was Columbus, Ohio, that was hit by a blizzard, attacking with 60-knot winds and 20 degree temperatures.
There were already 14 inches of snow on the ground before the storm struck, much of which had melted and re-frozen into ice a few days earlier, making travel impossible. The same storm also hit New York City and Boston.
Major blizzards are common in Buffalo. A 1936 St. Patrick's Day blizzard that brought 20 inches in one afternoon is still remembered. Blizzards also inundated Buffalo in 1985 and 2000, and it is a rare winter that does not make Buffalo snow a national news headline.
The aftermath of any blizzard, as adjusters in Boston know from that city's storm, is always a property insurance nightmare.
Personal and commercial policies cover roofs collapsed from the weight of ice, sleet and snow, and indirect business income or additional living expense losses follow until damaged structures are habitable.
The biggest threat is water. When power lines go down, heating systems fail and pipes freeze and burst. Melting snow forms rivers in streets, flooding basements and ground floors. Autos are damaged by collisions, falling trees and flooding. Stores close and only ski lodge owners are happy to see the white stuff.
With all the snow and cold weather it is difficult to think "global warming" in the midst of a blizzard. Yet scientists do attribute the polar vortex to warming over the Arctic, changing jet stream paths to lower latitudes. Horrible as it sounds, the worst may be yet to come.
Ken Brownlee, CPCU, is a former adjuster and risk manager based in Atlanta. He now authors and edits claims-adjusting textbooks.
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