Unprepared people

Yea, it amazes me when crap happens , you hear the meatheads crying and blaming the guberment for not coming to save their bum asses fast enough . These are the bought and payed for voters we're battling today .
I think there needs to be unplanned, spur of the moment crises's that last from a week to a month maybe twice a year , to help weed out the weak and dumb . We might could have a friendlier , smarter society within a few years .

 

Have you seen that t shirt that says "I'm not saying kill all the stupid people. I'm saying remove all the warning labels and let the problem sort itself out."

 

11) I hear FEMA will be here soon, Better run home and wait for them ASAP!

 

I'll have to shop around for that one .

 

And, someone who was prepared in advance, will now have a reliable, barely used vehicle to add to their fleet.

I couldn't agree more.
Humans: The only creatures on Earth, that allow their weak and stupid to live.

 

I used to do volunteer work at the local food bank.It was an eye-opener. I could not get many people to take more than one can.I told them to stock up. most looked at me funny. Most would not take any fresh vegetables.Some asked me what they were or how to cook them. Beans and rice were hard to get rid of, I guess cooking? is required. I would bet that most of the population has very little food in their home. Basic camping gear? A way to heat food? But preppers are the strange ones.

 

In the eons of evolutionary history, that is a very temporary state of affairs. Nature is utterly pitiless, and self correcting.

 

Last major snowstorm to hit the front range of Colorado was back in 97. I say major because it was a true Albuquerque low. Slow moving low pressure system swings across New Mexico. Sucks warm moist air from the gulf straight to cold Colorado.

That ski season a buddy and I decided to outfit a 1 ton 2 wheel drive Dodge van to stay overnight at resort parking lots. Saving motel money to buy more lift tickets. We heard about a snowstorm heading our way so we decided to head to Keystone. Arrived Wednesday morning about 24 hours before the storm was expected to hit. Thursday morning we found out the storm wasn't heading up into the mountains. Conditions on the trails were bad and without new snow coming we had no reason to stay. Decided to head home ( normally a 2 hour drive ). Just as we pass Eisenhower tunnel it hit. Complete whiteout. Travel slowed down to about 5 miles an hour. Reached Denver after dark and decided to fill the tank. After refilling we're headed up the on ramp to get back on I70. Some idiot ahead of us decided to stop in the middle of the ramp to talk to another driver. I knew once we lost momentum going up we wouldn't make it. Hit the horn and flashed the lights but he just sat there. So I stopped and he took off. Argh. Backed up about a quarter mile and decided it was time for the chains. By then the snow was about a foot deep. Normal stuff. Few hours later we made it to I 25 heading south. By then it was about 2 feet deep. Traffic wasn't terrible just slow. You couldn't see with the headlights on so I used the parking lights and just followed the left guardrail. About 5 miles outside Denver traffic stopped. Nothing was moving. Luckily I wasn't far from an off ramp. So after a few hours decided it was better heading somewhere rather than just sitting there. Drove in the emergency lane and took the off ramp. Figured heading east was the best bet.

Finally found a Village Inn and spent the night in the parking lot. The news on the radio was reporting thousands of cars stranded in the blizzard. Military called out the humvees to start rescuing people. A while later it was reported the military was trying to rescue the humvees. Police issued a travel ban and threatened to arrest anyone caught driving. So, after breakfast, I hit the road again. Good thing about traveling on the eastern plains of Colorado is the wind blows the snow off the road. Bad thing about traveling on the eastern plains is the wind creates huge snow drifts. Not long after we left the Village Inn we saw the first one. Around 4-5 feet deep and maybe 20-30 feet long. I guess I could have turned around, but hell, this is where the fun is. I hit the drift at about 35-40 mph and just plowed right thru it. Then another, and another, and many others. Until a few miles east of Castle Rock, when we happened upon an abandoned car in the middle of one. Tried to go around it but sank in the ditch off the road in about 3 feet of snow. Not sure how long after that a guy in a jeep pulled up. Said he was a firefighter going to rescue the chief who was also stuck. Hour or so later he comes back with the chief and about 4 or 5 other 4 x 4's. None of them made it around the car stuck in the road. The first fire guy said a plow was coming to get us all out. Huge dump truck plow shows up and gets stuck in the drift. Fire fighters try for a bit to shovel out the truck before giving up. While all this was going on I had been using my short handle little snow shovel to dig the van out. After the other guys gave up and was using their normal snow shovels to lean on I asked if I could borrow one and kept digging. Not once had the fire chief got out of his Grand Cherokee to give any orders. He just sat there. After seeing me shoveling snow for hours he radios one of the guys and orders me to stop.

Says we must abandon our vehicle and be taken to the nearest emergency shelter. Didn't make any sense. Nobody was going anywhere. So I quit digging. Invited a fire guy into the van to warm up. About blew his mind. We had the heat going, gave him coffee. Offered him some beer, hot food, whatever he wanted. He couldn't believe how prepared we were. We told him there is nothing at the shelter we could possibly need. He radioed the chief explaining our situation and I went back to digging. Short while after that I finished digging us out and we left. As we were leaving I saw the fire chief floor his Jeep and drive through the drift using the path that I had dug. Pulled into Castle Rock sometime that evening. Next morning we decided to find a way back on I 25. Took us a while before we found an on ramp that wasn't barricaded. Heading south we pulled in behind a police SUV who was checking on stranded motorists. After he finished talking to a trucker we got on the cb to find out what the cop had said to him. Trucker told us he was pretty angry that we were driving, so we figured it was best to turn around and head back to Castle Rock before we ended up behind bars. Looong story short. Lol. We stayed in Castle Rock until they cleared up the highway then made it back to Colorado Springs sometime Sunday.

I don't remember the death toll for that storm. Somewhere around 6 - 8. Couple of cadets died from CO poisoning in their car. Few heart attacks from people trying to walk home. Probably some died of exposure.
Only person we saw who was prepared was the semi driver. Guy lived in his truck so he was OK. Came across a couple stranded in their car but they wanted to stay until the plows cleared the road. Truck driver was giving them help.

It drives me nuts also. People not even doing simple thing to prepare. I see it all the time.

I gave up skiing/snowboarding. Now when we get a decent amount of snow my oldest daughter and I fire up the bov, load up the gear and look for people to help. There is a never ending supply of them.

Does make for a good time though

 

Great story. Thank you for sharing it with us. I enjoy reading experiences like yours. In fact, the above quoted text reminded me of my best friend.

Growing up in Southeast Georgia was something I am grateful for, for the most part. I had a friend, closer than a brother, whom I spent a lot of time with through those years. He was a tree climber and free spirit. Frank was the kind of guy who would help anyone, anywhere, anytime. Fortunately, I was brought up similarly.

We didn't have much snow to concern ourselves with, in that part of the country. But, we did have some pretty serious rains, especially during the summer months. We would often find ourselves in inclement weather, helping someone who went through a bit too deep flood waters, drowning their engines. Helping someone out always felt great. Turning down their offering of payment afterward, felt even better.

Frank was murdered by a drunk driver when he was only 35 years old. Truly, a loss to this World.

Thanks for helping me remember those times.

 

Awww come on! I had a 1990 YJ with a Warn HS9500i (this is when they had just come out) winch on the front. Locked front and rear. I put the bumper against a tree and pulled a log truck out of the mud with it, side ways.

 

HA, Mine is a '46 MB ( CJ-2A) with a 8000 winch and had "Lincoln Lockers" . Weighed nothing, and on ice. even with chains, it was a lot of work for that Lil' Jeep! Now that Same Lil 'Jeep has Ford Ranger power with 5 speed and Locked up CJ-5 axles and a 1 inch lift, still the stock rims with Cocker vintage off road tires! Doesn't have much more pull then before, but can at least go freeway speeds, and look cool doing it!