Wednesday’s blizzard was the final straw for even the most bullheaded Washingtonians, who resigned to stay home as numbing winds and white out conditions turned the region’s cities into virtual ghost towns.
Cheryl Coleman, of Germantown, said the latest round of snow put her in an unprecedented situation.
“This is the first time I can remember not going to work,” said the facility manager at Northrop Grumman. “It’s pretty much impossible to keep me home, but this did it.”
One look out the window at 5 a.m. Wednesday cemented her decision, she said.
The snow intensified throughout the day, forcing even transportation workers to take breaks from clearing the road.
Rockville’s Kris Broder said she ordered her husband back to their Cedarwood Drive home after he initially ventured out into the storm.
“I think we were optimists,” she said of his decision to leave the house. “We were wrong.”
Blizzard conditions pummeled the Washington area Wednesday, as winds gusting above 35 m.p.h. swirled about the historic accumulations of snow.
Not everyone was lamenting home confinement, however.
Neal Zarin, a federal worker at the Navy Yard, couldn’t be happier about the snow.
“I’ve had three days off without using leave,” he said. “There’s nothing to be upset about. I have a feeling the only day I’ll have to work is Friday.”
His thoughts on people trekking into the snow: “The only people out there right now are the idiots.”
Residents of 14th Pl. NE at the edge of Capitol Hill organized a street shoveling party to begin once the snow tapered off. Their narrow one-way had been bypassed by snowplows, leaving it scarred by deep ruts and nearly impassable even before Wednesday’s fresh fall. An exchange of e-mails attempted to ascertain the contents of neighbors’ cupboards in hopes of post-shoveling s’mores and libations.
Those forced to brave the weather were coming up with creative ways to stay safe.
Steven Robinson, 52, works as a security guard near R.F.K. Stadium. Robinson got a short respite from the wind and snow by using the Metro station as a thoroughfare.
“I’m just using the tunnel here to cut across,” Robinson said. “It’s treacherous out there.”
Jim Godfrey had a report due to his boss on Wednesday, but he rode his bike two miles in the snow to the Capitol South station, before taking Metro downtown his job as a technical writer — for other reasons.
“I wanted to get out of the house,” he said.
