People can underestimate how dangerous icy weather can be for communities. In schools, kids have to walk to school, bus drivers have to worry about getting kids to school safely. The icy roads can cause accidents, this is why winter weather can be a big threat to many.
Arguably one of the biggest impacts that snow storms and winter weather take part in are roadway accidents. With the roads turning icy, and snow stacking up, drivers are at risk of hydroplaning and potentially getting into an accident with neighboring drivers on the road.
The Department of Transportation stated that each year, a wapping 24% of roadway accidents occur on icy or snowy pavement, and 15% happen during snowfall or sleet. Over 1,300 people are killed and more than 116,800 people are injured in accidents due to icy roads annually.
Another negative impact that this kind of weather causes is the attendance at schools.
The attendance records that were provided by Counselling Secretary Taylor Green showed a significant decrease in the attendance within the Hancock High school community, the lowest attendance of the day January 9th, where HHS students were supposed to return back to school after a string of snow days, was 69.27%. While the attendance for the day January 21st, where freezing temperatures picked up and ice still stayed on some back roads, the lowest percentage of attendance within the different grades in HHS was 84.37%.
Jess Gowen (11) is a bus rider at HHS. Gowan said that the icy weather has a harsher effect on kids who have to ride buses to school. “Most people just have to warm up their car or wait for their parents, but we have to wait for a bus driver in the cold that could be late.”
The cold weather can be so hard to deal with that it could affect kids’ moods before school. Having to be outside in freezing temperatures whether it’s to walk to school, or wait on the bus can arguably cause kids’ moods to drop.
“I think if the weather is terrible in the morning, and if it’s overcast, I don’t expect to have a good day,” Gowan said. “I mean at certain temperatures it’s just not safe to go outside, and I feel like if the bus driver is late it just makes it worse to ride the bus. “
Many people are fans of cold weather to a certain extent, Gowan is one of them, although Gowan said that her liking for cold weather takes a halt when it comes to some temperatures. “I love the cold weather, but at a certain point it gets too cold,” Gowan said. “But I like snuggling up next to my heater.”
HHS hasn’t been the only place in our community that has been negatively affected by the recently bad weather.
“The weather also closes businesses that desperately need money,” Miranda Guss (12) stated. “Families who don’t have heating freeze.’
The cold weather is not just something people complain about because they have to shovel their driveways or miss work. It can also be a hazard to your physical health.
“Due to the wind, my nose and ears were so cold that they hurt. My feet were ice cubes trying not to slip and fall on ice,” Guss said.
While the cold weather has been a big inconvenience to the community, it also has positives.
“Neighbors work together to shovel the street, creating community over a shared goal,” Guss said. “Kids are off school and work is cancelled so families can enjoy time together.”
Guss stated that she has mixed feelings about the crazy weather.
“I love it since school is cancelled and I can sleep in and relax.” Guss said. “I also hate it because it cancels my work and I don’t get paid as much. It’s also super cold in my house since we don’t have heating, just electric heaters.”
Bus riders like Miranda Guss and Jess Gowan are affected within the community because they are expected to sit at the bus stop in the cold in order to get a ride to school. Studies show that freezing temperatures can cause trouble on the road, more accidents occur, which can cause more casualties. Icy weather may happen occasionally in St. Louis, although when it does happen, it causes many hardships within the community.
