Man o man!

Maine has definitely seen an abundance of the stuff this year. I think we have more than made up for any lacking amounts we may have had in years past.

We spent last winter in SW Louisiana and saw no snow at all. Being a Mainer I actually missed the stuff. The gods must have been listening or that Murphy guy is still stalking me because BAM! We got it this year.

Over 100 inches this year in some parts of Maine, way above the normal average. Now the local news channels are starting to make less jokes and report on more serious problems from this abundance. Roofs are becoming stressed to the breaking point. Not the roofs you may be thinking. Commercial roofs. Roofs from establishments that you would not normally consider as being unsafe.

The majority of the problems are schools and municipal (public) buildings. Even Wal-Mart has seen problems from these quaint flakes. How would it look to the world if a school roof collapsed and a child was hurt? We are talking about Maine here. Maine, known for it's harsh winters is now facing public safety issues from the inability to deal with the very thing we should be experts with.

What's causing these structural problems? Obviously it's the snow and in most cases as I understand it it is due to roofs not being able to maintain the weight of the snow.

Personally I think of this as an embarrassment. A school system should be able to deal with snow. Why did they not send people on the roofs to clear the snow before it became problematic? Why do corporate giants not spare extra expense to design stronger buildings?

To me this is not a problem of the weather, but more a problem of laziness, incompetence, and greed.