A recovering Lake Tahoe prepares for another winter snow storm

Record ID: 1716207

  • Title: A recovering Lake Tahoe prepares for another winter snow storm
  • Date: 19th March 2023
  • Summary: LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MARCH 18, 2023) (REUTERS) SNOW COVERED HOMES LAKE TAHOE STREET SIGNS CAR COVERED IN SNOW VARIOUS OF SNOW COVERED HOMES VARIOUS OF MARK MALLATT SHOVELING SNOW (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARK MALLATT, LAKE TAHOE RESIDENT, SAYING: “I'm trying to dig out the fire hydrant due to the fact that the fire department doesn't have time to do it. You know, so different people around town have been trying to get ones that they can. We don't want to have a problem like we had a week ago, where we had a fire and the fire hydrant took 20 minutes to get dug out, you know, which is too long. And the house burned down.” MARK MALLATT DIGGING OUT FIRE HYDRANT SNOW FIRE HYDRANT SIGNAGE MASSIVE SNOW PILES IN FRONT OF HOMES MARK MALLATT SHOVELING SNOW (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARK MALLATT, LAKE TAHOE RESIDENT, SAYING: “You can see I've been shoveling snow for the last three months.” HOMES BURIED IN FEET OF SNOW VARIOUS OF PERSON SHOVELING SNOW FROM ROOFTOP VARIOUS OF SNOW DAMAGED GAS STATION VARIOUS OF CREW CLEARING SNOW FROM ROOFTOP (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARK MALLATT, LAKE TAHOE RESIDENT, SAYING: “They talk about, you know, oh, I'm so tired of the snow. We don't need any more water and all that stuff but I think everybody kind of enjoys it. You know, it's almost an adventure just to live through it.” STORE BURIED IN SNOW SOUTH LAKE TAHOE SIGNAGE CAR BURIED WITH SNOW HOME COVERED IN SNOW SNOWPLOW CLEARING THE ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (English) BILLY NEWMAN, CALTRANS SUPERVISOR, SAYING: “We have major pothole issues that we've been working on. We have crews out 24 seven every every night, every day of the week right now with a couple of operations trying to fill in those potholes, because we know those are those are a nuisance for try and mitigate those as best we can right now. And with that, we're trying to get squeeze in as much of this clear weather bluebird work as we can until this next round of storms coming in early this next week. So right now, we're prepping everything, getting the roads back to where we can actually drive on them.” CALTRANS CLEANING SNOW MACHINE FAMILIES PLAYING IN THE SNOW EMERALD BAY SIGNAGE PEOPLE HIKING UP EMERALD BAY TRAIL EMERALD BAY LAKE TAHOE KEVIN VanDELDEN AND TYLER SUTHERLAND HIKE EMERALD BAY TRAIL (SOUNDBITE) (English) KEVIN VanDELDEN, TOURIST, SAYING: “Yeah, the first thoughts are pretty crazy, you see on social media, like the snow just keeps coming and, you know, it's different seeing on a screen and then you come. We drove in from Reno, and you drive around the corner and it's all a sudden 15 feet of snow a long the roads, so it's very impressive. I was here around the same time last year in Tahoe and it's just such a dramatic difference in the snowpack.” DRONE OF EMERALD BAY SNOW TRAIL (MUTE) EMERALD BAY SIGNAGE VARIOUS OF EMERALD BAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) TYLER SUTHERLAND, TOURIST, SAYING: “I think it's a bit of a mixed bag, like you said, You know, you get people coming in from out of town, get people staying here. I think the locals obviously love to see this because it's great for the nature right now, keeping it blue and keeping all the water back in there. But I think for travelers, it's become pretty hard because, you know, the flight plans definitely differ coming into Reno or you're driving It's going to depend on how much snow is coming down. If roads are clear, like this road we're standing on is not open. So it's going to depend on a lot of that stuff. But I think for locals, it's really good. You know, they'll love to see it. But for, you know, folks traveling and it's it's more difficult.” VARIOUS OF LAKE TAHOE CHILDREN’S PLAY AREA LAKE TAHOE MOUNTAIN SLOPES VISITORS ENJOYING THE VIEW EMERALD BAY SHORE VARIOUS JASON HE TAKING PHOTOS ON EMERALD BAY TRAIL (SOUNDBITE) (English) JASON HE, TOURIST, SAYING: “I mean, it's extremely beautiful you can see the snow capped mountains, the lake water that's near the shore it's all frozen over. So kind of like a reflecting mirror, sort of. And you can see one or two souls up on the far side skiing so it's I mean, it's extremely pretty.” VARIOUS OF FROZEN LAKE CASCADE
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2023 03:12
  • Keywords: CALIFORNIA LAKE TAHOE SNOW WEATHER
  • Location: LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • City: LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Environment,North America,Weather
  • Reuters ID: LVA001841718032023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: One of California's most popular winter destinations is slowly recovering but has to gear up again for another round of snow this week.
    The city of Lake Tahoe is recovering from winter storms, for the record books. Heavy snow has blanketed the town from the slopes to the rooftops, causing financial, physical, and infrastructure stress to the city and its residents.
    "I've been shoveling snow for the last three months," said Lake Tahoe resident Mark Mallatt.
    The relentless winter weather has destroyed city structures, homes, and roads. The community has rallied together to get back to a sense of normalcy.
    Mallat says he took action after witnessing a resident lose his home.
    "I'm trying to dig out the fire hydrant. The fire department doesn't have time to do it. Lots of people around town have been trying to get ones that they can. We had a fire, and it took 20 minutes to [dig] out, which is too long, and the house burned down," said Mallatt.
    Caltrans crews have worked around the clock to get the city roads back in shape for residents and tourists to navigate. From Emerald Bay to the city, heavy machinery is a consistent presence around town, removing feet of snow, paving potholes, and preparing for the next storm.
    "We're trying to squeeze in as much of this clear weather as we can until this next round of storms next week. Right now, we're prepping everything, getting the roads back to where we can actually drive on them," Caltrans Supervisor Bill Newman told Reuters.
    The late winter surge has kept tourism in the area. Visitors from all over are still flocking to the city to enjoy the powder and soak in the beauty like Bay Area resident Jason He.
    "It's extremely beautiful. You can see the snow-capped mountains and the lake water frozen over like a reflecting mirror. You can see one or two souls up on the far side skiing, so it's extremely pretty," said He.
    (Production: Sandra Stojanovic, Jorge Garcia)
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