My son's roof collapsing - more snow on the way

[Lefta Dissenter]

Hi DUers. My son lives in DC, renting in a two-story of some sort. Yesterday he called and said that he thought their roof was collaping. His roommate's skylight had shifted somehow. They tried to reach the landlord, but couldn't reach him over the weekend, and then yesterday the landlord said that he wouldn't be able to get anyone there immediately.

Then last night my son sent me these pictures of the ONLY beam in his roof.

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I certainly don't want to suggest that he get up on the roof himself to clear off the snow, but if the snow doesn't get off there before today's looming snowstorm, I can't imagine that the building will remain standing.

I told him to gather his stuff and get out of there, but of course, then what? He doesn't have a car out there, and his friends don't live anywhere near a functioning Metro line. His office was closed yesterday and will be today, but he will probably spend most of the day in at work anyway.

Any suggestions? Any shoulders I can cry on?

[Lefta Dissenter]

1. awwww

thanks for the heart!

:hi:

[Glimmer of Hope]

2. Did he go somewhere else to stay? I hope so!

[Lefta Dissenter]

3. I couldn't convince him to leave

but yesterday, a carpenter came and reinforced the beam by scabbing on a couple of other boards. I certainly hope it's enough. More importantly, though, they got the snow off the roof. My son said that the new snow wasn't piling up on the roof, because it's been too windy.

On a side note, though my son's work was officially closed, he went in to work anyway, in part, he said, because he wanted to feel like Shackleton trekking across Antarctica. He said that the walk to work was a fun adventure, but the trudge home in the evening really sucked, with the wind blowing the snow in his face.

I can't believe how few people shovel their walks out there! We live in Wisconsin, and in Madison you have to have your walk cleared by noon after a snowfall, or you get a huge fine. My son actually asked his neighbors if he could shovel their walk to their front door because they had such a huge drift across it that he wanted to experience that great reward of creating a channel for passage. I don't recall that he ever was too excited about shoveling when he was growing up here...

[Glimmer of Hope]

4. I am glad he is ok. He sounds like a great kid and I bet his neighbors

are grateful for new passage channel.

I grew up in Kansas City and have lived in DC for more than 15 years. I am still adjusting to the way people "deal" with snow around here! Hopefully these storms have toughened a few people up.

[DarrinBridges]

5. Snow in Western Maryland - a Western MD Candidate

The snow in Western Maryland caused lots of rooves to collapse. Lots of buildings fell down and tons of gutters were ripped off of houses.

The City of cumberland had a really hard time keeping up with the snow. That brings me to something I think is really important.

I'm supporting a local candidate for Mayor in Cumberland, MD. He is progressive and embodies all of the kinds of things that we really need in our community. Can anybody help with an idea of how to raise some funds to help him run? He has a website that lets you donate online at http://electbriangrim.com/contribute.htm but I was thinking if there was a way to get a bunch of people to just donate like $10.00 it would be really helpful.