Chinese Year Of The Snow Plow

Forget aboot those years of Dragons, and Chickens, this approaching Chinese New Year here in south central Alaska is truly the year of the plow.
The snow depth varies depending where you are but the record keepers say 81 inches have fallen since winter started here  in early November.

Last evening I cleared the deck, and when I got home this afternoon I was greeted with a fresh 18 inches of snow!

We have is easy compared to Cordova. The town of 2500 is buried under 15 feet of snow and ice. The road to the airport is closed part time because of avalanche. Four commercial building, and two homes have been damaged due to the snow, and the National Guard has been dispatched to help out.
The guard has requested better shovels to do the job, and Canadian company Garant is flying in 50 of their Yukon ergo shovels.

Yukon Ergo Sleigh Shovel In Sky Blue Plastic

The shovels cost about $50.00 dollars each! Fortunate for Garant, Cordova still has emergency fund money, and even better for state lawyers involved in suing the Federal Government, other wise they might have to go without flush toilets like some folks in rural Alaska.

 The citizens of Cordova have a cakewalk compared to the locals in Nome. Fall storms froze the ocean early and winds pushed the ice out to sea, preventing the last fuel barge of the season from delivering its critical load of heating oil, and gasoline.

Not to worry the Russian tanker Renda assisted by the Coast Guards only Ice Breaker Healy are making their way to Nome. Winter storms and 15 feet of ice makes progress slow but reported today Predator well peaceful drones are scouting the way for the two vessels. This morning the ships were aboot 97 miles away from Nome, and the Renda only needs to get within aboot a mile of town as it has that much hose.

I can’t see anything going wrong delivering 1.3 million gallons of oil, with a mile long Russian hose. No word on if the two ships plan on returning to ice free waters.

Cutter Healy One Tricked Out Ride