The winter of 2014-2015 has been quite the surprising winter, and most of us were not expecting to be bombarded with this much snow. Unfortunately, with the crazy weather New England brings us, we can not always be prepared for what’s to come. This year has been a great example of that. Buildings, cars and people have been the few things affected by the snowfall rate. Whether it be not being able to keep up with the snows accumulation or trouble with plows, there have been many damages throughout.

There have been many reports on the news about roofs caving in, and people being severely injured from trying to clean off their roofs. One of my friends, Jamie, who lives in Rowley had the awning under which they usually park their cars cave in. Jamie commented, “ It was crazy; luckily that day we had all been out of the house with our cars or else they all would have been severely damaged.” Her father hadn’t gotten the chance to clear off all of the snow that was building upon the roof, and I’m sure he regrets that now. The driving conditions due to the winter have worsen throughout and the ditches in the roads can cause damages to cars. Also, the snow is not completely plowed away from the road so people running and walking on the side of the road are in danger since there is not much room to move. In my neighborhood, there is always enough room for two cars to drive in and out. Since all the snow, the plowers barely made enough room for one car go get by. My neighbor who plows on his own told me that it really bothers him that they do not take the time to plow.

He said, “ If your gonna plow, do it right. It really makes me mad that these people are in such a rush they just go through once and that’s it. There are older people in this neighborhood who need to have a safe entrance and exit out.” Whenever he gets home he goes out on his tractor and plows the best he can so it is easier for cars to get in and out. People really appreciate this, especially because he goes out of his way to help them. Now that the winter is hopefully coming to an end, damage is everywhere and it’s going to take quite a long time to fix and clean up. Recently, there was a fire in downtown Ipswich that took a while to be put out because the nearby fire hydrants were not plowed out from the recent snowfall. Although the fire was right across from the fire station, they had to wait and plow out the hydrants. No one got hurt and everyone got out of the house, but unfortunately their house did burn down. This winter had been a winter that we all hope we never have again. We had almost record breaking snowfall and many of upset people. Let’s hope next winter is no where close to this one.