In 2005 we were hit by a horrific ice storm. It isn’t uncommon for them to come here. For a time we got hit on a 3-5 year cycle. We have had some much milder ice storms since 2005, but none remotely comparable in terms of damage.
There are many evergreen trees in this area, mostly pines. But in early December, even the oaks and the maple trees still have significant foliage left on them. That means that their vulnerability to heavy ice loads is much greater than it is when all of the leaves are down. I don’t remember the thickness of the ice, but I have heard it was half an inch or more. In addition, we had not had a serious ice storm in some years, so the trees had not been thinned naturally in any way. They were ripe for a catastrophic event.
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A friend of mine who lives in one of the hardest hit areas called me to see if I could help him with cleanup. We worked very hard for a day to clean up his property. When we were finished, we had stacked three piles along the roadway that were each large enough to fill a decent-sized dump truck. We were the first ones in his neighborhood to finish, but the progress others had made meant that the roads - ones that were passable at all - were getting dramatically narrower due to huge piles of debris encroaching further and further toward road center. By the time I went home the passage width for vehicles was less than eight feet in some places.
I did not know it at the time - news reports were sketchy because of widespread power outages. (Our power was out more than three days, and many had it much worse.) ‘Smart’ phones had not yet been invented, so they offered no help. My understanding since is that City crews working on clearing roads worked almost two days without a break. At the same time, the power company pulled its crews because the conditions were so unsafe.
It’s difficult to describe how widespread the damage was. I have heard that it took three days to get most of the roads clear. In more remote areas in the county, it took longer still. Crews with chain saws, front-end loaders and dump trucks worked for weeks doing nothing but hauling debris from the storm. All normal receiving points for tree debris filled to and beyond capacity in days. Sports fields were used as debris repositories, receiving staggering piles of broken trees, that had to be hauled away weeks later, when time and resources permitted. Emergency and overtime funds were rapidly exhausted, but the work could not stop.
Some crews only stopped when they had to switch to lawn mowing duties in the spring. I spoke with a tree technician several years later, and was told that broken limbs from that ice storm remained hanging in some trees. Perhaps that is still true.
Yahbut, what does this have to do with taxes, BeninSC? Just this.
I am sure you know that this area is deep red, politically. A number of very vicious anti-tax groups call the area home. Except for law enforcement, fire and facilities for imprisoning other human beings, almost no government expenditure is regarded as justifiable. (War-making resources are fine with them, of course.)
Yet, not one of the most rabid anti-tax people declined municipal assistance with the cleanup. Not one said, ‘I don’t think public revenues should be spent for this. I am going to pay to have my own debris hauled away.’
Not one. Because their commitment to what they say are their principles is most tenuous, indeed. And their conscience isn’t troubled by hypocrisy.
On to tonight’s comments!
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