Businesses, Travelers Prep For Snow
A winter storm is working its way east and across the metro Friday people were preparing for the first major snowfall of the season.
Grocery stores, gas stations and hardware stores were packed as many did last-minute shopping, not only for the storm, but for Sunday's Super Bowl as well.
Pushing through the grocery story stocking up on essentials, Leroy Kozeny was picking up a few items for lunch at Wohlner’s. When asked about the pending storm, he wasn’t worried.
“I'm ready, I think. We should have one because you know everyone is saying you've gotta have moisture in the ground. So I think it's gonna be good."
Over at Ace Hardware, they've been waiting long enough. “We had that little storm back in December, that has a little bit of movement as far as shovels and ice melt,” said Dave Casterline.
For them, snowfall pushes business. “I'm hoping we get a lot of movement coming through as far as the snow,” said Casterline.
And speaking of movement, Friday afternoon, the city snowplows sat in the lot waiting for the snow to fall. “We are ready. Early on in the snow season we buy sand and salt so that we're ready for that,” said Public Works Director Bob Stubbe.
He said the city has contractors are set to come in at 6 a.m. City drivers will be in at midnight Friday, but it's the weekend, which makes a difference.
“We're not dealing with morning rush, we’re not dealing with the afternoon rush," said Stubbe. "Kids aren't going to school. It does make it a lot more efficient for us."
While many of us will be dusting off our shovels and snow blowers, the same holds true for the professionals. "As soon as the phone rings, we'll be here," said Dennis Weber with Council Bluffs Public Works. "It could be 7 o'clock, midnight, 2 o'clock, we don't know."
For many, it was hard to make the call to cancel something when it's still decent outside, but after 2:30 p.m. Friday, when Omaha Public Schools decided to cancel all weekend events, many other organizations followed.
Even though it's the weekend, it's still busy for schools. From basketball to wrestling to swimming, those were just the events Burke High School was planning on. Now it’ll have to have make-up dates.
"There were a lot of people who looked like they had been there for a long time." Phil Choler had to wait an extra hour to board his plane in Denver for Omaha. There were many cancellations out of Denver, which may get two-feet of snow, so he feels like one of the lucky ones.
"I kept looking over, still on time, still on time, still on time. I know a lot of people were stuck."
“She's excited to ride her four-wheeler in the snow." Alli Baumbach of Council Bluffs isn't talking much about it, but inside she's eager for the flakes to fly. They were headed to Des Moines a day early.
“We were going to leave tomorrow morning, but we're going to leave tonight so we can get there before it starts,” said mom.
In a week of 60-degree days, the only fitting end seems to be a snowstorm.
