snowdeaf

Storm on top of storm on top of storm last week, and yet another forecast for tomorrow (Monday). Last Thursday's was particularly wickedy, even by Atlantic Canadian standards. Heavy, heavy snowfall, blowing snow, whiteouts, traffic accidents, etc. Damned hard to even walk the few blocks between home and the office.

I am responsible for supervising a number of employees at work. That means that I am responsible for approving their overtime, keeping track of their sick leave, approving time off, and, in a snowstorm, giving them the ok to leave work. They live hither and yon and get to work by various means. Should a blizzard blow up during a workday, I need to know if the city buses are being pulled off the roads (to send bus-riding employees home on the last few runs); if schools are being closed and employees who are parents need to take care of their kids; road conditions (so I can send driving employees home before they get dangerous); if and when the provincial government closes its offices (rule of thumb is, when they close, so do we - whoever's left at that point, anyway).

So, in 2005, where do we get that kind of information on a minute-by-minute basis in a storm?

The same place your great-granddad got it. On the radio.

I can't speak for larger media outlets in larger cities, but I can tell you that the local tv and newspaper websites don't have the resources to have a live webpage with minute-by-minute storm reports. The city transit page doesn't update live.

If you don't have access to local radio, you're in the dark about up-to-date info on cancellations and traffic issues.

I spent most of the day bugging coworkers for updates by IM or email. At 2:00 pm I said the hell with it and sent everybody home.

The obvious remedy for this is a newscrawl or a constantly-updated stormwatch website. You could even conceivably try to convince the local papers or tv stations that it would be a boon to all working people, not just deaf people, with no access to a radio.

But with radios for sale in Dollar Stores and being given away free with alco-pop drinks, good luck getting anywhere with that.

ronnie