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EDITORIAL: Evelyn is one for the history books

By Ben Rodgers 
Editor

By the time you read this the snow could be melted, or we could have another 2 feet on the ground.

With the recent weather happenings I won’t be betting against Mother Nature anytime soon.

Blizzard Evelyn was truly historic as the biggest blizzard in roughly 130 years.

The last time we had this much snow people had to read the newspaper to find out what happened, as the radio was still decades away from being invented.

According to the National Weather Service, the storm dumped more than 24 inches of snow on Green Bay, which is the second highest amount ever recorded.

March 1888 takes the record with a storm that produced 29 inches.

Evelyn helped destroy the previous record for snow in April, with the total now at more than 39 inches.

Oh, we still have some of April left as well.

Evelyn and her wind gusts up to 50 mph made roads nearly impassable, closed schools and caused a bevy of cancellations.

On Monday, schools were closed due to the April blizzard.

On Sunday, pastors did sermons from the comfort of their living rooms broadcasting to parishioners over Facebook.

Roofs collapsed in and businesses were also hurt due to closures.

On Saturday, proms were cancelled as traveling anywhere was not in the cards.

On Friday morning, nobody expected things to be this bad.

But by the afternoon, sleet produced ice, which made traveling on highways or busy roads a risky decision.

But in the bad, if you look hard enough you can always find the good.

Plow crews all around the Green Bay area deserve praise for working through this mess.

If you had to drive during the storm, thank a plow driver.

Most of them were already done for the winter, not expecting a storm of this magnitude this time of the year.

True heroes for the area don’t wear helmets and pads. They drive plows.

The same can be said for law enforcement who patrolled the streets helping stranded motorists.

In Brown County, there were more than 60 crashes and more than 300 vehicles in the ditch.

Without them, things would have been much worse.

People helped strangers push their cars out of heavy snow, or snow blow their neighbor’s driveway.

Residents came together to help each other, and as Wisconsinites that is what we do.

We all understand the risks and rewards of living here. In the spring, snowstorms can happen. It’s not common, but if you have looked out a window over the weekend, you know it’s a reality.

In the summer we can spend days on the water soaking up the sun and having fun.

Though it may feel like a long time away, summer is around the corner. Before we know it we it will be 90 degrees, and we will all be wishing it was cooler.

But in the meantime, concerns over potential flooding due to a quick melt are rising.

Either with a fast melt or a slow one, we will be feeling Evelyn’s aftermath for a while.

 

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