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| Streets of St. Louis, Missouri still look like this three weeks after a snow and ice storm, Probably the worst job I've seen of any municipality cleaning up after a storm. |
A big winter storms swept across large swaths of the nation back on January 5. St. Louis was hit hard with lots of freezing rain and snow.
It was no surprise that in the first few days after the storm, city streets were atrocious to drive on.
But as the days turned into weeks, many side streets were not cleared. Residents said they've seen no trucks, no plows, no road salt.
It's dangerous. On Saturday, an elderly man fell on the ice and hit his head. The street he was on was too icy for the ambulance to get through. Paramedics had to gingerly walk down the icy street to reach the man and treat him.
The temperature briefly got as high as 56 degrees last Friday before crashing again. News video shot after the thaw showed more ice on some side streets than on adjacent sidewalks and lawns.
The city said it hired a private company to help with the side streets as the ice clearing lagged. But as of this past weekend, they still hadn't gotten to everyone yet. The company they hired has six trucks with plows and salt, and two other trucks with salt only.
Trash pickups have not happened either. Per a union contract, trash haulers in St. Louis do not drive if there's an accumulation of six inches or more of snow or temperatures are below 10 degrees.
Trash bins have been overflowing in many neighborhoods as a result.
Alarmingly, local news media reported that many side streets remained untouched due to misinformation from employees to their public works bosses. I'm not sure on the details, but if employees are lying like that, there's a real problem going on in St. Louis.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones rebuffed calls to declare a state of emergency in the city, but did call in those outside companies to help.
As of Wednesday, many St. Louis streets were still basically skating rinks. Television station KSDK said the mayor's office told them the streets aren't clear due to a lack of resources and it's cold out.
The city did cut $600,000 from the snow removal budget, which likely isn't helping. They did add three small trucks that can clear the many narrow alleys in St. Louis, but they won't arrive there until the end of the year because of supply chain issues.
So much for that idea, then.
Other cities manage to clear streets better than this. St. Louis is having a colder than average January, but it's not record-breaking. And they've only had an additional 2.1 inches of snow since that big storm that started this mess back on January 5.
I'm not sure what will happen to local leaders amid public anger, but if people are forced out of office, it won't be the first time a winter storm has created a political shakeup.
One famous example was the aftermath of a large blizzard that struck Chicago in January, 1979. Mayor Michael Bilandic botched the storm recovery, leading to fellow Jane Byrne challenging him in the Democratic primary for mayor.
Byrne ended up defeating Bilandic, to become Chicago's first female mayor.
Way back in February, 1969, an unexpectedly heavy snowstorm dumped 15 inches of snow on New York City. The storm hit on a Sunday, and it took until Wednesday just to get major roads cleared, subway and rail lines recovered and schools reopened.
The storm ultimately killed 28 people. He's been a shoo-in for re-election, but barely eeked out a victory and his political fortunes never recovered.
Sometimes a winter storm won't end a politician's career but can at least partly define them. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz fled to Cancun as a deadly, highly destructive winter storm and freeze hit Texas in 2021. To this day, people call him Cancun Cruz.
St. Louis, after a sharp cold snap this week that kept the icy streets treacherous, is in for a break. Several days of mild weather are expected, especially toward the weekend. The weather looks poised to do what the city couldn't manage: Clear the streets of snow and ice.
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