LONDON, Feb. 2, 2009
Historic Snowfall Shuts Down London
The City That Withstood The Blitz Buckles Under Less Than A Foot Of Snow; Airports Closed, Public Transportation Shut Down
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A railway worker clears the snow off a platform at East Croydon railway station, south London on Feb. 2, 2009. (AP PHOTO)
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Photo Essay Winter Weather Woes Deadly snow and ice storm makes its way across the nation
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Photo Essay Snow Snarls Europe's Capitals Unusually heavy snow plays havoc in London, Paris and Madrid
The biggest snowfall to hit London in 18 years idled the city's trademark red buses and Underground trains Monday, stranded thousands of airline passengers, and raised the vexing question of why a predicted winter storm caught authorities so unprepared.
Transit officials had nearly a week to get ready, but they failed to keep things running normally in the capital, which was buried under more than four inches of snow overnight and another four inches in the afternoon.
Londoners who needed to get somewhere often found they couldn't - unless they were willing to walk for miles.
"There's no point in going to work today," said office worker Caroline Samuel, 36, after waiting for an Underground train that never arrived. "I'm going home."
All five of the capital's airports briefly shut down - with nearly 800 flights canceled throughout the day and thousands of passengers stranded. An international flight skidded off a taxiway at Heathrow, causing no injuries.
The city's extensive bus network was completely closed for most of the day and many trains simply didn't run.
Colossal traffic jams clogged roads because of fender benders and more serious accidents.
(AP)
London's Ambulance Service's operations director Richard Webber said the bad weather had put the department under severe pressure, adding that it will respond only to calls from people with life-threatening injuries or illnesses.
Some people strapped on cross-country skis to get around; others spent the day sledding with their kids.
Problems extended to France and Ireland as well, with airports in both countries reporting numerous delays and cancellations and motorists facing icy hazards.
Mayor Boris Johnson conceded that London lacked the plows and other equipment - mostly because buying it is a gamble with big snowfalls so rare here.
The usually jokey, upbeat mayor said "the volume of snow was so huge" that the city's efforts to keep up were doomed and that skidding buses could become "a lethal weapon."
The mayor's official spokesman denied that concerns about insurance coverage led to the decision to keep the buses off the streets.
"It never got that far," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with department policy. "It was a basic safety issue. It might have caused some inconvenience, but it's nothing compared to the damage that could be done by a 12-ton vehicle cruising over crushed ice. The roads weren't fit."
Richard Tracey, conservative leader on transport for the London Assembly told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the bus company's willingness to deal with snow is different than in past years because of growing levels of health and safety legislation.
"I think the public are prepared to go out, but the bus drivers and the companies won't drive if there's even the tiniest risk of the bus skidding and people being injured," Tracey said. "Government legislation, European legislation and all that, that's what stops these things."
(AP)
Former Mayor Ken Livingstone blasted London's storm preparations. He said it had been more than a century since the city buses were idled.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the government was doing "everything possible" to keep transit systems operating.
The harsh conditions led to hundreds of school closures, and many courts shut as well, including London's landmark Old Bailey. Hospitals remained open, but staffing levels were reduced.
Harried transport officials defended the system despite its near total breakdown.
The Underground subway network was hard hit because much of the system is actually above ground - and when even one line gets shut down, it has a domino effect on the others.
A Transport for London spokesman said the agency must largely rely on London's local councils to treat roads - and that not all of the councils have the same level of ability to deal with a heavy snowfall.
"We're not in Russia here," said Guy Pitt, a press officer for the agency. "We don't have an infrastructure built for constant snow."
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Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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See all 30 CommentsAl Gore received it for a phony slide show movie.
Irena risked her life smuggling out children in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Irena managed to smuggle out approximately 2,500 children before she was finally caught. When she was captured, the Nazis beat her severely, breaking both her arms and her legs.
Al Gore made 100 million dollars and has yet to personally save one life.
Ummm good choice?????!
Posted by Evian_Ycnan at 06:20 PM
You didn''t have to wait that long did you?
But it''s doing what it was suppose to do with the Media & UN Blitz. Create another Madigores Scheme. So Sad when millions of people on our planet are in need of food & shelter.
Posted by rudy6543
Is Al Gore a Scientist? According to Wikipedia (what do they know?) Gore is a journalist.
Posted by rudy6543
Maybe they are just following good ol'' Al''s example.
Posted by earth5621
So, when there is a an earthquake or a sunami in the Muslim world, who is causing those incidents? Would that also be the result of Allah and his anger towards those infidels?
Its pretty convenient as the new economic stimulus package is full of tax dollars to go to GW pork projects to pay back B.O.''s supporters.
Don''''t panic about this phenomenon. It is nothing more than a REAL CHANGE we''ve come to know. Business as usual that Our Planet has been going through for trillions of years. So Sad!
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Posted by DebinOK1 at 10:35 PM
Despite your idiotics attempts, global warming is stil a fact. The question has always been, what''s causing it. But no, here you people are declaring yourselves the know it alls of the year.
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Posted by Mihann at 12:15 AM
Yeah, Al Gore and thousands of other scientists don''t know nuthin. But you got your degree from Limpballs Institute of Stupidity so that makes you the know-it-all doctor.
Sorry, to the rest of you superficial numbskulls, but last year my area had record snows and cold, but spring came on so fast that the snow melts killed spawning salmon. Now this year, the middle of January and we were having the warmest winter on record and who knows if we will have any water at all for salmon. But hey, what does Al Gore know, right?
Idiots.
Al Gore received it for a phony movie.
Irena risked her life smuggling out children in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Irena managed to smuggle out approximately 2,500 children before she was finally caught. When she was captured, the Nazis beat her severely, breaking both her arms and her legs.
Al Gore made 100 million dollars and has yet to personally save one life.
Ummm good choice%u2026%u2026not!
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Posted by beastcloud at 10:26 PM
You''re oh so 2007, the AGW bandwagon lost almost all of the scientists last year. So much so they AGW nutcases have been recycling tree ring alleged expert Mann into a Antarctic expert. LOL
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