Residents gearing up for the coming winter weather
Feb. 13, 2007
By JOSEPH M. DELEON News-Post Staff
jdeleon@fredericknewspost.com
FREDERICK — When Elizabeth Ginter heard a storm could dump up to a foot of snow and ice across the Mid-Atlantic region today, she didn't waste time getting to the grocery store.
She bundled-up her 3-year-old twins, Ava and Michael, and drove to the Giant Eagle at Frederick Shopping Center on Monday to buy milk, bread and juice.
Ginter moved to Frederick four years ago from northern New Jersey when her husband was trans ferred to Fort Detrick to engineer satellites. She normally shops at the commissary on base, but it's closed Mondays.
“I would normally go on Tuesdays, but I anticipate my food will run out if we get snowed in,” she said as her children joined hands in the parking lot. “It's typical human nature to make sure you're prepared because no one wants to be out in the snow and ice unless they have a four-wheel drive.”
While Ginter misses friends and family, she doesn't miss the harsher winters she left behind. But she might get a taste of home when the storm hits.
Mark Hoekzema, chief meteorologist at Internet forecast service WeatherBug, predicts light snow will dust Frederick County in the morning, but not enough to affect rush hour traffic. The snow will give way to sleet by late morning and freezing rain in the afternoon.
“The commute home could be a little icy, but mainly on back streets, sidewalks and driveways where ice will be an issue,” Hoekzema said. “There could be a good accumulation of ice in Frederick County, especially in the northern parts, which could load up on trees and power lines and potentially cause power outages.”
Frederick County emergency planning officials and the American Red Cross suggest families and businesses make a plan for coping with an emergency, such as losing electricity.
Residents should gather necessary supplies, such as blankets, nonperishable food and water, and consider the special needs of people with disabilities and senior residents in the event of a winter storm.
“The basic emergency plans are the same for most disasters, whether a hurricane, snow storm or other urgent situation,” said Jack Markey, director of Frederick County Emergency Management Office. “Taking a few minutes to discuss and act on some simple, common-sense preparedness steps with your family can save your life and the lives of the ones you love, and reduce property loss that commonly occurs during such storms.”
Snow takes and gives
While winter storms are often good for business at supermarkets and hardware stores, they can be a disaster for shops that rely on holidays, such as Valentine's Day.
Wanda Stone, owner of Flower Fashions on West Seventh Street, saw less than half the orders for flowers her store normally gets for Valentine's Day.
After more than 22 years in the business, she couldn't recall snow affecting Valentine's Day sales, but this year she thinks the weather has something to do with it.
“I've got a boatload of flowers in the cooler and I don't know how I'm going to get rid of them,” Stone said Monday. “The weather kind of made a circus out of it all — it's not going to be the year we anticipated.”
Her store normally does 20 percent of its annual sales in February, almost twice as much as for Mother's Day.
Stone hopes to deliver the 80 arrangements already paid for, but is no longer accepting orders to deliver flowers, preferring not to risk an accident.
“I don't want to promise something I can't deliver,” she said. “And I don't want to upset my customers.”
Sharon Mesa, owner of retail flower market En Masse on North Market Street, hopes to pick up some of those sales.
After six years in business, she thinks residents are getting used to buying fresh flowers three days a week.
“Business downtown is a strange animal,” Mesa said. “The biggest thing we do around holidays is staff up and make sure we're practically one-on-one when people walk in.”
While the shop normally does about 2 1/2 months worth of sales on Valentine's Day week, Mesa won't know the storm's impact until Wednesday.
That's because, unlike traditional flower shops, En Masse does few pre-order flower arrangements. Customers pick from nearly 100 varieties of flowers, then consult with a designer to create a custom arrangement.
“It's a wonderful walk-in surprise for customers and represents a very interactive experience,” Mesa said. “I think people should interact with flowers, and that's what we do here.”
The shop offers curb-side service, even when snow's on the ground.
Candles and kerosene
While flower sales may be down, business at grocer Super Fresh in Mount Airy was brisk all day Monday.
Night manager Jerry Busch, a 33-year veteran of the business, said meat, cold cuts, bread, milk, paper goods and canned soups are popular items before storms.
“They're buying heavy, and it seems like they're buying to be snowed in for a few days,” he said. “It gets like this when you hear there will be ice on top of the snow. When they hear ice, it really makes them panic.”
He recommended buying candles and a gas grill just in case the power goes out. Since many of his customers rely on electric pumps for well water, bottled water is also a good idea.
Customers at Ace Hardware in Thurmont bought shovels and bags of salt. Store manager Craig Mayne has been waiting for a strong winter storm to help boost business.
He hopes the storm will encourage customers to buy snow blowers, which he has yet to sell this year.
Mayne suggests buying an ice scraper and a plastic snow shovel, because they're lighter than metal ones. Many people also buy leaf blowers to use on powdery snow.
He also recommends buying a kerosene back-up heater, just in case residents have to hunker down in a snow storm.
“In this type of business, you need the weather to go with the season, because you're selling things that go with that season,” he said. “In other businesses it might slow them down, but in our business it picks us up.”