Waking up to white-out conditions

Four days after one of the biggest snowstorms ever in the Washington D.C.-metro region, we have white-out conditions this morning as another foot or more of snow is being dumped on top of the 30 inches that fell last Saturday. Visibility has been zero much of the morning as winds are gusting around 40 mph. Drifts are reaching six feet. Power company crews have stopped working to get electricity back on in parts of Virginia and Maryland because conditions are too hazardous. Some folks have been without power for four days as night-time temperatures plunge into the lower teens. Suffice to say, many people are about to snap.

No one in these parts can recall anything like these two back-to-back storms. Trees and roofs continue to fall. Snow-removal budgets were exhausted weeks ago, shortly after the Dec. 19 mega-storm, which seems like a distant memory now. Hundreds of millions of dollars from the local economy have been lost as most businesses are closed. As of 9 a.m., the Virginia Department of Transportation said there were about 200 accidents working. Milk, bread and other basics have been gone from the store shelves during this stretch. A house burned down in Great Falls -- about 10 miles from where I live -- because the fire trucks couldn't get through the snow. Even local television meteorologists have a bewildered, grim look on their faces. And those guys usually live for this stuff.

It's an uneasy feeling waking up to pure white and winds that are shaking a house with thousands of pounds of snow already on the roof. Virginia wasn't built to withstand this sort of weather. People move to this state for its relatively moderate seasons. We have several more weeks where more snow could pound the region. It's scary to think what might happen if we get hit with another blizzard later this month or in March. One has to wonder where all the water will go when the snow begins melting and how businesses and municipal budgets, already crushed by the recession, will recover.