Lititz slowly began to emerge on Sunday from the gigantic mound of snow encasing it, carved out like a sculpture by hundreds of local hands-some with shovels, others with snow blowers, and a few hands guiding large yellow plows.
The blizzard brought a record-breaking snowfall that didn’t disappoint die-hard lovers of winter: over 24 inches fell in 24 hours in Lititz, enough to cause even the US Postal Service to stop delivery on Saturday.
But by Monday morning, some Lititz residents, including a few in a large apartment complex, were disappointed to still be snowed in.
“All I can say is, I am stuck,” said one tenant of Newport Commons who asked not to be identified. “There is no way out of here. There is no bus either as they have all been canceled, so we cannot even walk to the bus stop.”
Some parking lots at the Newport Commons apartment complex were not plowed by noon on Monday, over 36 hours after the storm stopped.
Residents who rely on property management to clear the snow were disappointed to see that the parking lot at the complex office building was clear and accessible, while they couldn’t even reach their cars or walk on sidewalks still stacked high with snow. Only one lane was cleared at each entrance to the complex. Access roads that were plowed led drivers to dead ends piled high with snow. Shortly after these photos were taken, crews began removing snow from the lots and sidewalks.
Workers used heavy machinery to clear snow from along South Broad St. in front of the police station. East Main St. was closed for a time as workers removed snow from the parking spaces lining it and then worked their way up North Broad Street.
“While they were doing this they were totally ignoring the rest of the borough which is a mess,” posted Glenn B. Knight to a LititzDailyNews.com photo on Facebook. “Poor allocation of resources unless the downtown merchants are more important than the average citizen,” commented Knight.
Downtown residents on Front Street fumed as they dug out their cars and navigated down narrow passages wide enough only for one vehicle. Mounds of snow lined both sides of the street, and residents wished for a reprieve from the shoveling. Meanwhile, a parade of dump trucks awaited filling over on North Broad Street, lined up in front of Lititz businesses.
“Yea, you can bring all of that [equipment] right over to Orange Street next!” wrote Becky Rose.
Another reader expressed gratitude for the efforts of local snow removal workers.
“I just want to say thank you to all who have helped in the dig out!” posted Andrea Vanderelia. “They will get to everyone, its’ just a matter of time.”
On Tuesday morning, a Lititz man fell into a sink hole on West 2nd Ave. and West Lemon Street. The 19-year old man, who had reportedly taken out the garbage, fell into the hole and was helped out by his mother. Lititz Borough Police posted the video of the sinkhole to their Facebook page.
