What is now being referred to as the Portland Snowpocalypse, this week’s snow storm has caused nothing short of complete chaos. With most schools, businesses and government buildings closed for the latter half of this week and thousands of cars abandoned on our streets, things have been quite a mess over the past 24 hours… to say the least. With unprepared residents and slick roads that are spinning vehicle out of control, the rise in car crashes since Wednesday afternoon has been overwhelming.
Predictions proved to be true Wednesday evening when the city of Portland was taken over by an intense snow storm.
Wikimedia Commons Commutes that should’ve taken our residents only a handful of minutes ended up taking them several hours to complete. While Portland only ended up receiving roughly 2-3 inches of snow, the city quickly turned into an icy nightmare that had our cars fish-tailing all over the roads.
With no salt on the roads and many commuters traveling without snow tires, all of Portland looked like a big game of bumper cars.
Wikimedia Commons While many chose to abandon their cars completely and walk to where they were going, those who decided to tough it out and drive through the snow and ice were left to quite literally slide all over the place.
A common sight that’s been seen all over Portland is cars attempting to make their way up hill (or down), only to quickly slide back down and almost always hitting at least one parked car along the way.
Captured by YouTube user wesanderika, you can see just one of the many vehicles of Portland that are spinning around on the streets. From minor wipeouts like this to 10-car pileups, Portland is seeing it all.
Some residents have been vocal over the city’s lack of preparation.
Wikimedia Commons Snowpocalypse was predicted and we all knew it was coming. So how did things still end up being so chaotic out on the roads? One of the disadvantages we have here in Portland is that the city does not put rock salt out on the roads. Residents have spoken out insisting that the city should have been more quick about de-icing and plowing all of our roads.
During the period of noon on Wednesday to 8AM on Thursday morning, 911 operators received 101 reports of car crashes in Portland.
Marnie Mitchell/flickr Putting things at a rate of 5 accidents per hour, Portland’s total continues to rise as the city still deals with this winter weather. The National Weather Service has stated that the weather is due to remain cold over the weekend, procrastinating the melting of all of this snow and ice even further. Those who have to go out and travel this weekend are urged more than ever to be cautious, especially at night when roads are freezing back over.
Are you accustomed to dealing with the chaos on the roads after a snow storm? Were you prepared to drive out in the Snowpocalypse this week? Share with us what you’ve experienced in Portland over the past 24 hours!
Wikimedia Commons
Commutes that should’ve taken our residents only a handful of minutes ended up taking them several hours to complete. While Portland only ended up receiving roughly 2-3 inches of snow, the city quickly turned into an icy nightmare that had our cars fish-tailing all over the roads.
While many chose to abandon their cars completely and walk to where they were going, those who decided to tough it out and drive through the snow and ice were left to quite literally slide all over the place.
A common sight that’s been seen all over Portland is cars attempting to make their way up hill (or down), only to quickly slide back down and almost always hitting at least one parked car along the way.
Captured by YouTube user wesanderika, you can see just one of the many vehicles of Portland that are spinning around on the streets. From minor wipeouts like this to 10-car pileups, Portland is seeing it all.
Snowpocalypse was predicted and we all knew it was coming. So how did things still end up being so chaotic out on the roads? One of the disadvantages we have here in Portland is that the city does not put rock salt out on the roads. Residents have spoken out insisting that the city should have been more quick about de-icing and plowing all of our roads.
Marnie Mitchell/flickr
Putting things at a rate of 5 accidents per hour, Portland’s total continues to rise as the city still deals with this winter weather. The National Weather Service has stated that the weather is due to remain cold over the weekend, procrastinating the melting of all of this snow and ice even further. Those who have to go out and travel this weekend are urged more than ever to be cautious, especially at night when roads are freezing back over.
OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article.
