Google Mapping the snowstorm
The Spokesman Review is a paper that I’ve been watching closely because of it’s radical shift toward online media. They didn’t disappoint when a recent snowstorm hit the state. (Interstate 90, the main east-west drag, has been closed on and off for almost a week due to avalanche danger.) Among other things, they made a map for residents to post if they needed help or wanted to offer help.
I know from living in a few snowbound areas that communities really pull together to help their immediate neighbors. Even Loveland, Colo., where I used to live and report, had a volunteer snow shoveling squad who would get up in the wee hours and help people on a predetermined list to shovel out. The map brings this to new heights.
There’s lots of people willing to help with snowblowers and four-wheel drives. Lots of bored teenagers, too, who are looking for something productive to do. And there’s people who need help and people who are offering help just blocks from each other. I bet they’ve never even met.
And check out this cool video about past storms in Spokane. The old timers were right. “This is nothing.”