TACOMA, Wash — There’s still plenty of work to do to clear around 12 inches of snowfall that blanketed Tacoma over the weekend.
Snow crews from both Tacoma and private companies spent the past three days crisscrossing the city to clear roadways and parking lots for residents.
Niwar Nasim, president of Nasim and Sons Landscaping, had a very busy weekend. But he feels it was made busier because many didn’t appreciate how bad this storm could get.
“You saw a lot of cars that were spinning out, saw several cars in ditches, it was really unfortunate to see that," Nasim said.
“During these events, there’s always a plethora of people and businesses that haven’t planned before, so they call during, before, or in some cases after to get serviced. It’s very difficult to fulfill that because by then, you got crews out there that are exhausted, they’re working overtime, so it’s expensive to help those folks out.”
Many residential areas also had difficulties getting the snow cleared off their roads, but Nasim says location could play a factor.
“We got some communities that are quite frankly are on some very steep slopes, and when it snows like that, there’s no way any kind of first-responder can respond to them because it’s flat-out dangerous to go to these properties.”
For this reason and others, Nasim says having a plan is critical, not just for those in neighborhoods that are difficult to get to, but so everyone can be prepared for the next Snowpocalypse.
“I cannot stress enough how important it is to plan way ahead of time, you cannot be early enough," Nasim said. "We don’t get weather like this every single year, but when it does happen, it’s just a good feeling knowing you’re going to be safe because you planned correctly.”