Big snow, big headaches

With a record year snow come some big problems. Besides avalanches, there are some buildings and homes that can have a tough time under too much snow, and particularly roofs. 

Snow is heavy and as it packs up densely, it can weigh enormously on structures that were not designed to support huge loads, even though our construction code takes care of these occasional snow excesses. Some homes are also very old and predate modern construction standards, some are poorly built or getting weak over the years too. 

This is why this season sights of crews shoveling roofs has been quite common and in spite of these efforts, some roofs still collapsed. 

There were also leaks, mostly occasioned by poor roof materials and designs that lead to ice dams and necessitated shoveling snow around the eaves. Finally, there’s the big spring melt that invariably occurs in April and May. 

When temperatures rise too quickly while the ground is still frozen solid, melting water has no way to go but inside the basements. Creeks can overflow too, and low laying areas can become targets of temporarily, but highly damaging flooding. 

So no matter how you slices, wonderfully abundant snow always finds a way to turn back into water and comes with a heavy and unpleasant price to pay!