City of Seattle: EPIC FAIL

The following account is going to seem very unusual to most of you, but I promise that it is true. Last Saturday night, there was about 1 inch of snow in the Seattle area. By Monday morning, many of the streets had ice on them due to the fact that they had not been plowed, sanded or salted. The temperature was not expected to rise above freezing that day. Nevertheless, the Seattle School District decided to open on a 2 hour delay. They did the same thing on Tuesday.

On Tuesday night, a considerable snowstorm hit the Puget Sound area. However there was not a single snowflake in Seattle. Furthermore, the ice on the streets had melted and they were clear on Wednesday morning. The School District's response? Seattle Schools were closed on Wednesday. That's right, closed. No snow. Perfectly clear streets, but the schools were closed because there had been snow elsewhere in the area.

Finally, on Thursday morning, Seattle got the snow. It started around 4:30 AM and snowed all day. Wednesday night, folks from the Seattle Department of Transportation were on the news promising to give full attention to major arterials and bus routes. Well, on Thursday morning at 7, I was waiting at a bus stop to get home after a night shift. I waited for two hours. Not a single plow or sand truck came down THE major bus route in Seattle. Nor did I see evidence of plowing anywhere except on a bridge on the way home. A major arterial near my house has still not been plowed--24 hours after the storm. (It was sanded, however, last night). Of course Seattle Schools closed down for the holidays--better luck in January.

The only bright spot in this sea of incompetence was King County Metro. Once the bus finally arrived, our driver expertly picked alternate routes to finally get me home. The streets looked like the route for the Iditarod. I would have said that it would be impossible to navigate a full, articulated bus from downtown Seattle to my home. Our bus driver was heroic. All along the route, I saw transit personnel clearing streets, blocking intersections to prevent bus/car accidents, and assisting busses stuck trying to make it up hills. So, my hat is off to King County Metro.

To the rest of the snow (non)-response: You fail. The city fails, the school district fails, and the state fails. I know this area doesn't get a whole heck of a lot of snow, but you guys can do better than this. Seattle is not Mogadishu--it's supposed to be a semi-modern city. It's definitely time for a change in the leadership from the top down.

Another storm is supposed to hit tomorrow night. Another opportunity for local government to showcase its breathtaking ineptitude.