Snowpocalypse 2011
Eight-year-old Tyrese McCray (right) of East Chicago, Ind., works with his step brother and sisters to help Maria Gonzales (background) dig her car out of the snow on the 141st block of Indianapolis Blvd. in East Chicago, Ind., during a winter snow storm, Wednesday, February 2, 2011.
Call me a skeptic, or perhaps a cynic, but I’m usually the one who goes against the grain and doesn’t buy “hype”. I don’t make investments in new gear until I’ve thoroughly researched the product (sometimes for months on end) to make sure it’s right for me. I won’t buy that shiny new car until I’ve taken it for a test drive, including making the salesman uncomfortable by punching the accelerator to see what kind of “get up and go” it has. And, even at age ten, I knew Crystal Pepsi was doomed from the get-go.
Naturally, then, when I learned the blizzard of the decade was planning to pummel the Chicago area this week with all-out fluffy fury, I took it with a grain of salt. After all, in my 29 years of winters in the Chicago area, I’ve seen meteorologist Tom Skilling shrug his shoulders more than once behind the WGN news desk after not quite calling a forecast correctly. Most of these times happened when I was young – when I really looked forward to playing in snow. Nothing was more disappointing than waking up in the morning, cracking open a Crystal Pepsi, and skipping to the window only to find the brown, dry January grass where the blizzard was supposed to be!
Well, Mr. Skilling, you called it right this time! While all the “adults” I’ve talked to have shrugged off Snowpocalypse 2011 and rebutted with tales of “The Storm of ’67”, for me, this week’s blizzard is definitely the worst snow storm I’ve experienced as a lifelong resident of the Chicago area. Never before have we not been able to pull cars out of the garage, with our wimpy 2-wheel-drive vehicles proving to be no match for four-foot-deep snow drifts. I’ve never seen an entire snowy day go by with less than two passes from the INDOT snow plows. And, most disconcerting, Plaza Garibaldi (one of the few Mexican restaurants in East Chicago open 24/365) shuttered its doors in advance of the brunt of the storm. Plaza Garibaldi’s operational status is the ultimate barometer for civil stability in the city of East Chicago.
I won’t tell you that part of that young Guy Rhodes deep down inside me wasn’t excited as I waded through knee-deep snow cover last night while outside shooting video of the storm. Trying to stay afoot against 50 mile-per-hour wind gusts was challenging to say the least. I took refuge behind the video camera whenever possible to escape the stinging, numbing sensation of snow and ice pelting my face. Still, being able to experience nature’s awesome and historic power first-hand right in my own back yard was an opportunity I wasn’t willing to pass up.
Less than 24 hours before the blizzard struck, this was my vantage point during a break for lunch. What a contrast, eh? I spent last weekend in Jupiter Beach, Florida, lighting a portrait shoot for Toyota Racing. Luckily (or not, depending on how you want to look at it), I made one of the last flights into Chicago’s Midway Airport on Monday night before all flights were canceled in advance of Snowpocalypse.
When the snow began to fall on Tuesday afternoon, I went out with my still camera and began to document the action. I became marginally uncomfortable (OK, very uncomfortable) when visitors to my Facebook page began to compare my image on the left, shot near my home, with a movie poster from The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
When the snowfall increased on Tuesday night, I decided to switch over to video to better illustrate the blowing snow and difficult driving conditions. Though I’m without a “real” rain slicker for my Panasonic HMC150, a thick, clear plastic bag that was going to end up in the trash proved to be the perfect substitute. While my mishaps are not as well-documented as some of my colleagues’, I have trashed a few cameras in my day, all due to moisture. You can’t shoot in severe weather without protection!
Above are the video results of my early-morning walk through East Chicago during the blizzard, played against a moody piece from Nine Inch Nails and a curious voice mail from my friend Jeff Grafton. Jeff had just lost his power in Bloomington, Indiana, due to severe icing in that part of the state. I decided to have some fun (don’t take this too seriously, folks) by combining all these elements together.
When I came in from shooting after about 45 minutes, anything that wasn’t covered (like my microphone windscreen pictured above) was completely caked with snow.
The next morning, with the storm continuing in full-force, it was back to the still cameras to cover East Chicago residents digging out. Above, residents in the 700 block of west 143rd St. shovel snow from around their vehicles.
Snow drifts as high as the first floor, completely covering stairs (and here, half of the front door) were a common sight on many homes.
A PT Cruiser is almost completely buried in front of a home along west 143rd st. in East Chicago. The snow drifts on either side of the street were nearly chest-deep.
Drajan Govceski of Whiting, Ind., shovels snow from the entrance of his rental property in the 141st block of Indianapolis Blvd. in East Chicago. I shot this image from atop snow from a neighboring parking lot that had been plowed into a very tall pile. I was startled, while trying to climb down, when I broke through the surface of the snow and fell almost completely into the pile up to my chest. For me, this was the moment when the novelty of the blizzard officially wore off.
Snow almost completely covers a vehicle in the 142nd block of Indianapolis Blvd. in East Chicago.
Windshield wipers are all that are visible on a vehicle covered in snow on the 141st block of Olcott Ave. in East Chicago.
Residents in the 700 block of west 143rd St. shovel snow from around their vehicles.
An Indiana Department of Transportation snow plow works the northbound lanes of Indianapolis Blvd. in East Chicago, Ind., during the storm.
Traffic moves northbound on Indianapolis Blvd. in East Chicago as blowing lake-effect snow picks up where the system snowfall left off.
A second video I produced, showing East Chicago residents beginning the tedious process of digging out late Wednesday afternoon.
One of my final, favorite images from the storm is actually a still-frame from my video footage of a pedestrian walking west on 142nd St. in East Chicago.
Refreshing after seeing the same view from inside my house! The last one is amazing!!!
Great shots and footage! SNOWPOCALYPSE RULES!
Love it! Amazing work!!