The whole LSD Snow Job gets more and more disturbing.
First, Mayor Daley says there's no need to interrupt business-as-usual in The Loop with a Blizzard bearing down on us.
Then, after people are trapped on LSD, some with small children, some elderly, the City refers to the incident repeatedly as an "inconvenience."
When that doesn't fly, they blame motorists for not heeding warnings that LSD could be treacherous, while simultaneously defending their decision not to close it.
In the latest edition, Daley's chief-of-staff steps up to the microphone and says the decision to leave LSD open was his alone.
WHAT? The Mayor was never consulted on whether or not to close a major arterial road that also happens to be a state highway?
That's either a baldface lie or an example of exactly how things should NOT be run.
And through it all, we have YET to hear from The Mayor.
Where is he hiding? Doesn't he know its Groundhog's Day?
I would like to know where the bus accident was? I was stuck for over an hour right next to the jackknifed bus at the front end of that mess. There was another bus behind it. I saw no accident damage. It just got stuck in the right hand lane because of the drifting snow that was starting to clog up that lane very quickly. I saw no accidents at the front end, just cars stuck in all the loose snow.
Luckily, was able to get an opening around 6:20pm, floor it, started sliding sideways, but was able to straighten it out and keep it rolling all the way back up north. The only accident was their mistake of not anticipating how quickly the drifting snow would start to cause problems.
Take a chill pill. You have no idea what you are talking about. Your post is idiotic.
First of all, Orozco is just taking the political heat. He did not make the call.
You see, the City actually employs professionals in OEMC who actually know what they are doing. Like all good leaders, Daley depends on his staff to make calls in their area of expertise. They were working for 36 straight hours. (without pay of course, because they are non union.) Daley is going to defer to the experts, he is not GOD, he does not know everything about emergency management. This was an unexpected situation and it takes analysis on how to respond. THis is the difference between political jabber and actually getting things done.
Also, do you really think that Daley is going to tell businesses how to run their businesses?
The entire City needed help last night. OEMC and first responders eventually rescued EVERYBODY on Lake Shore Drive. EVERY SINGLE PERSON.
You will never get the facts in the media. Just the jabber.
And FYI the Mayor was up all night communicating with OEMC and even screaming about solving the problems while you slept at home. No wonder you haven't heard from him. And Chicago was generally opened for business today, which is incredible.
Congrats to all City staff who handled this emergency. As to people who got trapped on LSD and are complaining (There are only a few) a simple thank will suffice. I am glad you had your 2 minutes of fame complaining on TV. Also, kudos to the volunteers who helped, not even THINKING about blaming the government for their situation.
YDD - Where you even trapped on LSD? I doubt it. Try knowing what you are talking about before you open your mouth.
Thanks again to OEMC, police, fire, water and every agency that helped out.
I've got a funny feeling that as more eye witnesses like you start to come forward, more-and-more holes are going to appear in the official story.
Already the press is starting to seriously question the city's count of the number of stranded vehicles involved.
The official story is around 900, but I've heard reports of 1500.
I also liked the Tribune's interview with the fella who was finally rescued at 8:30 this a.m. --- five hours AFTER the city claims they got everybody out.
That said, hat's off to the first responders on the front lines for making the best of a bad situation, and getting everyone out safely.
This has "management screw-up" written all over it.
Prediction: Look for Mayor Daley to chop off someone's head publicly if this story doesn't die down by Monday morning. This ain't how he wants to be remembered.
How absolutely hillarious. Suppose they had closed LSD and forced all that traffic onto the arterial streets. With the wind and the snow bearing down many of those same busses and autos would have broken down on Clark Street, Sheridan Road, Fullerton and Belmont. Abandoment of cars all over the place, causing traffic tie ups.
Whose responsible?? How about the drivers that decided Tuesday morning to drive to the loop, knowing full well the warnings of the storm.
I agree with toto! WHEN I Left the loop at 4 pm I took the.Cta but already could judge it was rough out there. I think every one of is was aware the. Severe storm was coming and everyone on Lsd choose to ignore all warnings not to travel or drive. Many people rented hotel rooms and some elected to. Ignore warnings and common sense and attempt to drive home. And the rest of the.City had to pay to rescue them and to relocate their vehicles. The city is not charging you for your poor decision, defying alll warnings! Not to mention. People had to risk their lives to save you!
I agree with Toto. Aside from drivers that needed assistance, why the heck would anyone stay in their car that long? Inexperience and no commands to leave from the officials I guess. I mean people were leaving their cars, walking across the drive and relieving themselves in the nearby buildings and then getting back in their cars all night. WTF?! Keep walking and go home on a train.
YDD, apply the "disturbed" appellation to yourself. Let me clarify things for you, since you're unclear on the concept.
We just went through the 3rd worst blizzard on record...that qualifies as a natural disaster, and natural disasters are unpredictable--even more so when people are advised to act wisely as the event approaches and they choose to NOT act wisely. No conspiracy, just a few hundred stupid people who had other priorities besides heeding warnings about driving in the long-forecasted blizzard.
And about your conspiracy theory. Um, in case you hadn't noticed, we have early voting going on NOW to vote for a new mayor and new aldermen for Uptown's three wards. The heads that will roll, if any NEED to be rolled, will be soon be out of office. THAT is what we're focused on...along with keeping sidewalks clear, digging out cars, navigating around snow piles, and waiting for side streets and alleys to be cleared.
I'm going to add one more thought. There was AMPLE warning that this blizzard was going to be bad, and that it was going to be dangerous. There was absolutely no excuse for people to be out in it unless they had a real emergency--they could have left for their destinations earlier, they could have made plans to stay put where they were, or they could have stayed with friends or relatives or shelters or hotels instead of being out unprepared. All of us now are paying for the stupidity of the stranded car drivers on Lake Shore Drive--the time and safety of the rescue workers, transportation off LSD and shelter, the time (and overtime) for towing crews and the costs of running heavy equipment and towing vehicles off LSD. I'm grateful to all of those crews for the work they've done and continue to do, but let's face it: the costs for these rescues and for clearing LSD is going to be substantially more than $2.25 per stranded driver and stranded passenger. I'm willing to bet that the final costs to Chicago taxpayers for fixing the reckless actions of those people would have allowed us to hire at least a dozen police officers to make our streets safer. I hope those stranded drivers think about that--and I think they will never underestimate the power of nature nor ever make that sort of stupid mistake again.
Can someone explain why we are not putting the blame on the idiotic motorists who were out driving in the first place? I mean, every news outlet in the area was reporting that it was a storm of epic proportions. If everyone left work early/worked from home and got their shopping done on Tuesday night, there would have been no problems.
Yeah, and not only should we blame the stupid ass motorists for being on Lake Shore despite all warnings, we should also blame all the idiots who buy cars with rear-wheel drive or cars that don't handle well in snowy conditions. Or what about people who don't read the papers or watch TV much. Or those who doubted that this time the weather people were actually right since it isn't at all uncommon for them to predict chaos and disaster only for nothing to happen.
Sheesh, people, where is the compassion!?! Those who were stuck on the Drive went through a pretty rough time during some pretty unique weather. Give them a break!
The whole LSD Snow Job gets more and more disturbing.
ReplyDeleteFirst, Mayor Daley says there's no need to interrupt business-as-usual in The Loop with a Blizzard bearing down on us.
Then, after people are trapped on LSD, some with small children, some elderly, the City refers to the incident repeatedly as an "inconvenience."
When that doesn't fly, they blame motorists for not heeding warnings that LSD could be treacherous, while simultaneously defending their decision not to close it.
In the latest edition, Daley's chief-of-staff steps up to the microphone and says the decision to leave LSD open was his alone.
WHAT? The Mayor was never consulted on whether or not to close a major arterial road that also happens to be a state highway?
That's either a baldface lie or an example of exactly how things should NOT be run.
And through it all, we have YET to hear from The Mayor.
Where is he hiding? Doesn't he know its Groundhog's Day?
AWESOME. (It would be cool if the dog's name was Anarchy.)
ReplyDeleteI would like to know where the bus accident was? I was stuck for over an hour right next to the jackknifed bus at the front end of that mess. There was another bus behind it. I saw no accident damage. It just got stuck in the right hand lane because of the drifting snow that was starting to clog up that lane very quickly. I saw no accidents at the front end, just cars stuck in all the loose snow.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, was able to get an opening around 6:20pm, floor it, started sliding sideways, but was able to straighten it out and keep it rolling all the way back up north. The only accident was their mistake of not anticipating how quickly the drifting snow would start to cause problems.
YDD,
ReplyDeleteTake a chill pill. You have no idea what you are talking about. Your post is idiotic.
First of all, Orozco is just taking the political heat. He did not make the call.
You see, the City actually employs professionals in OEMC who actually know what they are doing. Like all good leaders, Daley depends on his staff to make calls in their area of expertise. They were working for 36 straight hours. (without pay of course, because they are non union.) Daley is going to defer to the experts, he is not GOD, he does not know everything about emergency management. This was an unexpected situation and it takes analysis on how to respond. THis is the difference between political jabber and actually getting things done.
Also, do you really think that Daley is going to tell businesses how to run their businesses?
The entire City needed help last night. OEMC and first responders eventually rescued EVERYBODY on Lake Shore Drive. EVERY SINGLE PERSON.
You will never get the facts in the media. Just the jabber.
And FYI the Mayor was up all night communicating with OEMC and even screaming about solving the problems while you slept at home. No wonder you haven't heard from him. And Chicago was generally opened for business today, which is incredible.
Congrats to all City staff who handled this emergency. As to people who got trapped on LSD and are complaining (There are only a few) a simple thank will suffice. I am glad you had your 2 minutes of fame complaining on TV. Also, kudos to the volunteers who helped, not even THINKING about blaming the government for their situation.
YDD - Where you even trapped on LSD? I doubt it. Try knowing what you are talking about before you open your mouth.
Thanks again to OEMC, police, fire, water and every agency that helped out.
And through it all, we have YET to hear from The Mayor.
ReplyDeleteAnd ...?
Honestly, the less I hear from that man, the better.
love this picture!
ReplyDelete@Ray -
ReplyDeleteI've got a funny feeling that as more eye witnesses like you start to come forward, more-and-more holes are going to appear in the official story.
Already the press is starting to seriously question the city's count of the number of stranded vehicles involved.
The official story is around 900, but I've heard reports of 1500.
I also liked the Tribune's interview with the fella who was finally rescued at 8:30 this a.m. --- five hours AFTER the city claims they got everybody out.
That said, hat's off to the first responders on the front lines for making the best of a bad situation, and getting everyone out safely.
This has "management screw-up" written all over it.
Prediction: Look for Mayor Daley to chop off someone's head publicly if this story doesn't die down by Monday morning. This ain't how he wants to be remembered.
How absolutely hillarious. Suppose they had closed LSD and forced all that traffic onto the arterial streets. With the wind and the snow bearing down many of those same busses and autos would have broken down on Clark Street, Sheridan Road, Fullerton and Belmont. Abandoment of cars all over the place, causing traffic tie ups.
ReplyDeleteWhose responsible?? How about the drivers that decided Tuesday morning to drive to the loop, knowing full well the warnings of the storm.
Well put toto.
ReplyDeleteI agree with toto! WHEN I Left the loop at 4 pm I took the.Cta but already could judge it was rough out there. I think every one of is was aware the. Severe storm was coming and everyone on Lsd choose to ignore all warnings not to travel or drive. Many people rented hotel rooms and some elected to. Ignore warnings and common sense and attempt to drive home. And the rest of the.City had to pay to rescue them and to relocate their vehicles. The city is not charging you for your poor decision, defying alll warnings! Not to mention. People had to risk their lives to save you!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Toto. Aside from drivers that needed assistance, why the heck would anyone stay in their car that long? Inexperience and no commands to leave from the officials I guess. I mean people were leaving their cars, walking across the drive and relieving themselves in the nearby buildings and then getting back in their cars all night. WTF?! Keep walking and go home on a train.
ReplyDeleteThanks first responders. You do great work!
YDD, apply the "disturbed" appellation to yourself. Let me clarify things for you, since you're unclear on the concept.
ReplyDeleteWe just went through the 3rd worst blizzard on record...that qualifies as a natural disaster, and natural disasters are unpredictable--even more so when people are advised to act wisely as the event approaches and they choose to NOT act wisely. No conspiracy, just a few hundred stupid people who had other priorities besides heeding warnings about driving in the long-forecasted blizzard.
And about your conspiracy theory. Um, in case you hadn't noticed, we have early voting going on NOW to vote for a new mayor and new aldermen for Uptown's three wards. The heads that will roll, if any NEED to be rolled, will be soon be out of office. THAT is what we're focused on...along with keeping sidewalks clear, digging out cars, navigating around snow piles, and waiting for side streets and alleys to be cleared.
I'm going to add one more thought. There was AMPLE warning that this blizzard was going to be bad, and that it was going to be dangerous. There was absolutely no excuse for people to be out in it unless they had a real emergency--they could have left for their destinations earlier, they could have made plans to stay put where they were, or they could have stayed with friends or relatives or shelters or hotels instead of being out unprepared. All of us now are paying for the stupidity of the stranded car drivers on Lake Shore Drive--the time and safety of the rescue workers, transportation off LSD and shelter, the time (and overtime) for towing crews and the costs of running heavy equipment and towing vehicles off LSD. I'm grateful to all of those crews for the work they've done and continue to do, but let's face it: the costs for these rescues and for clearing LSD is going to be substantially more than $2.25 per stranded driver and stranded passenger. I'm willing to bet that the final costs to Chicago taxpayers for fixing the reckless actions of those people would have allowed us to hire at least a dozen police officers to make our streets safer. I hope those stranded drivers think about that--and I think they will never underestimate the power of nature nor ever make that sort of stupid mistake again.
Can someone explain why we are not putting the blame on the idiotic motorists who were out driving in the first place? I mean, every news outlet in the area was reporting that it was a storm of epic proportions. If everyone left work early/worked from home and got their shopping done on Tuesday night, there would have been no problems.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and not only should we blame the stupid ass motorists for being on Lake Shore despite all warnings, we should also blame all the idiots who buy cars with rear-wheel drive or cars that don't handle well in snowy conditions. Or what about people who don't read the papers or watch TV much. Or those who doubted that this time the weather people were actually right since it isn't at all uncommon for them to predict chaos and disaster only for nothing to happen.
ReplyDeleteSheesh, people, where is the compassion!?! Those who were stuck on the Drive went through a pretty rough time during some pretty unique weather. Give them a break!
It's all over now and Henry looks absolutely amazing sitting in the midst of the Drive.
ReplyDeleteMy dog and I had a nice time walking along LSD from Wilson to Lawrence. It felt like a Chicago rite of passage. I'm glad to say I did it.
Storms suck. Snow sucks. Making a poor decision on whatever level sucks.
Now lets all look at the dog and go "Awwww!"