Snow can be very beautiful, but most of us don’t want it to last too long. Aside from its beauty, it’s very cumbersome, it’s cold, and it’s wet. Well, once it melts, it’s equally as problematic. If temperatures are conducive, it can re-freeze and create sheets of ice on the ground making driving and walking dangerous, or it begins to melt and mix with snow that hasn’t warmed and it become sludge which is heavy and hard to keep out of the way, and finally, it can melt and continue melting until it’s all puddles and pools on sidewalks, in the grass, filling sewage drains, making everything an awful, wet mess.
Once it reaches the stage of becoming water, it creates moisture issues inside and outside. Focusing on the dangers of over-abundances of water outside, in a populated and frequently traveled environment, there are many things that can go wrong for the inhabitants of these areas.
Sewers can begin to back up from filling too quickly.
Potholes and uneven ground can be masked by the collection of water.
The ground may become overly saturated, making it too soggy to walk across, and also forcing bugs and worms to the surface and out of their homes.
Trees can begin to rot from the roots up, causing them to eventually collapse without care of where it falls.
Landslides can become a very real danger, as heavy waters create unstable ground.
Roadways below the water-table can be completely blocked off and regarded as unusable due to the levels rising too high to safely travel through.
These are just a few of the first thoughts that come to mind as threats during times of that much-desired thaw from the frigid winter weather. It’s always important to be as prepared and protected as possible from these natural occurrences. The best thing we can do is be aware of these risks and be on the lookout from the things that we cannot avoid.