Durbin: DC residents fear snowstorms like 'nuclear attack'

[babylonsister]

:rofl: OK, I wasn't there, but this made me laugh, so sue me.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/02/12/durbin-dc-residents-fear-snowstorms-like-nuclear-attack/?fbid=BdXlf_P-z9p


Durbin: DC residents fear snowstorms like 'nuclear attack'
Posted: February 12th, 2010 03:32 PM ET

From CNN's Jeff Simon


Washington (CNN) - Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said Thursday that he "never could get over" the way people in the nation's capital deal with the threat of an impending snowfall.

Washington residents get their fair share of jabs when it comes to their anxiety about impending snowfall, but the Democrat from a decidedly snowier region of the country took the criticism to a new level Thursday in a speech on the Senate floor.

"I'm convinced that infants born in Washington, D.C., are taken from the arms of their loving mothers right when they are born, into a room where someone shows a film of a snowstorm with shrieking and screaming so that those children come to believe that snow is a mortal enemy, like a nuclear attack," Durbin said. "Because I've seen over 40 years here, people in this town go into a full-scale panic at the thought of a snowfall."

Watch Durbin's full remarks at link~

Durbin thanked the federal employees who "came trudging through the snow" so that congressional offices could operate and tourists who braved the blizzard could safely navigate around the Capitol grounds.

Durbin went on to say that most snowstorms don't warrant the level of distress typically exhibited by Washingtonians, but that this was no ordinary storm.

"This was a heck of a snowstorm. You had every right to be concerned. Some of the other ones, maybe not, but this one was the real deal."

The federal government closed for four and half days and most public schools shuttered their doors all week as a result of the two storms that dumped more than 30 inches on the nation's capital.

[kwassa]

1. first there was Snowpocalypse, then Snowmaggedon, then Snowverkill

We've already hit our highest snow total ever for a year, and the winter is a long way from over. Our average is 15 inches a YEAR, and we had about 54 inches so far.

the site Capitol Weather Gang mocks our usual paranoia, and came up with the names in the title that were widely adopted. We make fun of our fear.

But you know, sometimes it is not paranoia, sometimes the weather IS out to get us.

[Forkboy]

2. It's not ENOUGH snow.

Someone send me to the Yukon (now THERE'S a DU challenge!).

[malletgirl02]

3. Not Funny

It was really bad. Low visibility and icy roads are not a joke.

[renegade000]

5. right

being from NoVa, the problem is often people don't fear the snow and ice ENOUGH.

[jwirr]

4. Some years ago the North Shore of MN had a 41 inch snowstorm on

Halloween night. To give DC their due most of us were snowed in for at least 3 days and that included the schools. In a major city just moving the snow off of the streets to someplace it can be piled up would be a major project.

[joanski0]

6. I don't think they are afraid of the snow as much as

they are the traffic jams. The rush hour is a mess in normal weather. When it starts snowing, especially on the beltway, people abandon their cars and traffic is blocked for hours.

[Imajika]

7. Kinda dumb for Durbin to say this...

DC has gotten pounded this year. A few miles up the road and Baltimore has had it even worse. Pretty much the entire mid-atlantic has had more snow this season than any other season in history.

It is one thing to get lots of 4-5 inch snowfalls that the plows can keep up with, quite another to get THREE major east coast storm events in one season with 1-2 feet of snow each time tied with blizzard conditions. And even worse, 2 of those storms within a few days of each other.

These have been very dangerous events for the DC area. They are not a joke. Many have been without power for a long time, roofs have collapsed, people trapped in their homes for several days without assistance, etc, etc. And things get worse when the flooding from all the melting snow comes.

I understand Durbin is joking around about this, and yes, being that this is DC everything is overhyped, but these storms have been crippling and would be for any major city.

I find it amusing that many New Yorkers giggle at us down here in Washington for our reaction to snow, yet when this latest storm was still 24 hours away NYC was busy closing its schools a full day in advance in preparation for the snowstorm - and NYC ended up getting about the same amount as DC did.