We’ve heard of snow blindness, but snow dumbness is a phenomena that hit North Kitsap as surely as the blizzard did this week. Here’s what we mean by dumb:
Drivers without good sense: People who live on a hill, or who know that they need to travel on a hill might expect to have problems on a snowy day. But no, the folks with bald tires seem to have the biggest yen to dash out into the frosty morn and put their car into the first convenient ditch, tree, or other vehicle. Firefighters stayed busy until about 10 a.m. traveling from one minor car crash to another and monitoring downed power lines.
Power does go off: The wet, heavy snow we received Wednesday caused tree branches to bend and break, often tearing down power lines. Dumbness in action were the people who behaved dangerously around those downed lines. In one case, NKF&R crews arrived at a scene to find a man attempting to move the lines with a broom handle. According to fire department officials, it’s always safest to stay away from downed lines. Even if power is out in the neighborhood, spokeswoman Michelé Laboda says, some home generators feed power back into the system. She also reminds us about what we should have learned in junior high science: moisture conducts electricity. Wet or snow-covered ground can conduct electricity over significant distances. Also, don’t drive a car over downed power lines, it’s a myth that the tires protect the car from being energized.
If you see a power line down, call 911 to report the problem, especially if the line is arcing or sparking. Then, keep everyone away from the area; it is dangerous to walk over or under downed lines.
Backup Plans: We’re always surprised by the number of people who don’t have alternative arrangements for heat and light during our frequent winter power failures. Plan ahead for the next one, outages can come just as unexpectedly as this week’s did. Then, think about getting heavy-duty surge protectors for your electronic devices and computers. When the power came back on this week, it was uneven––taking out computers not equipped with surge protectors and causing two surge protectors to overload and catch fire.
School closures: When there’s snow in your yard in the morning, it’s a pretty safe bet that school will be delayed or closed. The delay and eventual closures were announced early on all the area radio and TV stations, giving parents plenty of notice to make other arrangements for their kids. In spite of all the information available, some children were still seen standing outside waiting for a bus. The district also discovered some electronic glitches in their web site and other emergency notification systems, which they have now repaired.
Road closures: The Bainbridge Island mud slide that closed Hwy. 305 Thursday morning gave us an opportunity to play the old children’s game of “telephone.” Unfortunately, few drivers decided to play. If the first five cars behind the slide had passed the word about what was happening to the next five drivers, then they had told the next five drivers (you get the idea), then the poor folks stuck at the end of the line might not have been so confused, or could have made other arrangements. At least waiting on the highway for a long time gave us a chance to get well acquainted with a lot of nice people.
Kudos: All in all, the people who cleared the roads, directed the traffic, rendered emergency assistance and repaired the utilities deserve our extra thanks. Most of us were without power for only a day or suffered only small inconveniences, thanks to their efforts.
