We are having a lot of weather realated problems.
Today,we have heavy rain and some sleet and ice.
Pot holes all over the roads.
Many roof have collapses.
Drive way are getting smaller.
Mailbox knocked off by the plows.
Just a big mess.
People pumping water out of their cellars,etc
I will be so glad,when Spring makes it debut.
People are falling on the ice.
Breaking news,we just had a six car piled up on our highway.
Foggy and the visibilty is very poor at spots.
Hikers,missing on Mt.Washington.
We had quite a few,one died and the other serious condition.
Why do they hike at this time of the year?
Yea,I know challenge.Challenge my arse,hope that they charged them for services.
Do not feel sorry for them.





Two more collapses reported


A warning: Clear off those snowy roofs!
Another day of sleet, rain may mean trouble
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By SHIRA SCHOENBERG
Monitor staff


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February 18. 2008 12:26AM



After two more buildings collapsed Saturday under the weight of snow from last week's storm, local fire officials are warning property owners to keep their roofs clean. "Because of the weather cycles, we're starting to really have some serious problems," said Rick Whitney, acting battalion chief for the Concord Fire Department.

In Concord, the roof fell in on a Capitol Distributors warehouse on Hall Street. In Bristol, the social hall of St. Timothy Church collapsed. No one was injured in either incident.

The danger of more collapses could grow today with another round of snow and rain. According to the National Weather Service, overnight snow and sleet was expected to change to freezing rain and then rain after midnight, tapering from heavy rain to a foggy drizzle throughout the day. Although temperatures were expected to rise during the day to nearly 50 degrees, a cold front in late afternoon could bring yet more rain.

Whitney said the problems could be particularly acute for buildings with flat roofs, where snowfall can block drains. He cautioned home and business owners who have wooden roofs to hire a contractor or, if they are able, to clean the snow off their roofs themselves. For steel roofs, it is important to keep the roof drains clear and, if necessary, to remove some of the snow and lighten the load on the roof.

The warehouse collapse on Hall Street happened during the day Saturday. The building had a steel frame structure and was built in the 1970s or 1980s, Whitney said. It was used for storage by Capitol Distributors and was for sale. The contents of building included one transport vehicle, which was damaged. The part of the warehouse that collapsed was about 17,000 square feet. Whitney said the company had building engineers inspect the building, who determined that the rest of the building is not in jeopardy, although it is still loaded with snow.

Whitney said the collapse is particularly worrisome because the building was relatively new and made of steel, while previous collapsed buildings had been mostly older and wooden.

"It's just snow load," Whitney said. "With that much loading, a building is subject to failure."

In Bristol, the roof of St. Timothy Church's social center on West Shore Road fell in on Saturday morning around 6:50 a.m., said Bristol Fire Department Capt. Mark Chevalier.

"A building can hold weight for a while, but it just gets to the point that it finally had enough," Chevalier said. "I'm sure with the snow load from the other day, it already started stressing."

The building, which was about 50 by 80 feet, was owned by the church and used primarily in the summer for wedding receptions and social events such as dances, dinners and auctions. It had a wood frame with a metal roof. It opened in late spring and closed in early fall.

Pastor Leo LeBlanc said the building was a century old and had been used as a dance hall for visitors to Newfound Lake. The hall, which could hold close to 200 people, overlooked the end of the lake and was popular during the big band era, he said. The parish bought it in 1969 and started holding its own events there. Recently, a church social fellowship committee had started meeting to figure out how to use the hall more actively.

Because the building was already shut for the winter, gas, water and sewer services had all been turned off. The building sits close to the road, but Chevalier said because it was Saturday morning, there was little traffic.

Last week in Concord, an empty warehouse at Riverside Millworks in Penacook collapsed, as did a storage building on Elm Street. A car restoration workshop and a lumber business storage shed both collapsed in Boscawen. And in the past few weeks, the Concord Fire Department has been called to inspect problems with roofs at Shaw's, Wal-Mart and a private home on Airport Road, Whitney said.