Life, business go on despite near-record cold and snow

With Nodaway County in the grip of near-record cold and buried in deep snow following a Christmas blizzard, it has been anything but a happy new year for scores of residents affected by dead batteries, drift-filled driveways and frozen pipes.

But, life goes on, and while local business people say there is no doubt the weather has had an impact, cash registers have still been ringing, though louder in some places than others.
"For hardware, any kind of a small natural disaster is good for business," said Brad Watkins, manager of Watkins True Value Hardware, Appliance & Rental at 1416 S.Main.

Watkins, who said he still has a few snow blowers in stock after selling 35 or so, has also been doing a brisk trade in shovels and other snow removal gear. Not surprisingly, space heaters are moving well along with plumbing supplies, floor driers, carpet cleaners and wet/dry vacuums.
"We like a good cold spell," he said.

A block or so up the street at Hineline Home Furnishings, 1122 S. Main, manager Kyle Beggs has slightly less to smile about, but says things haven't been too bad, despite the worst blizzard in nearly 30 years and sub-freezing temperatures.

Because the blizzard cut into sales on the traditionally busy day after Christmas, Hineline decided to open on New Year's Day, Beggs said. Otherwise, people have still been coming through the front door despite the cold.

"It's really hard to tell," Beggs said. "There are days when the weather's been bad that we've actually gotten some traffic, but it's also caused us to be dead on days when we should have had traffic."

Some people, he speculated, just get tired of being trapped inside and decide to go shopping regardless of what the thermometer says.

"After a day or two people get cabin fever and they start to come out," Beggs said. "It hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be."

At the local bowling alley, Bearcat Lanes, 1803 S. Main, the cold "doesn't affect us," said manager Tammy Alumbaugh. "People still come out to go bowling." She added, however, that a couple of teams comprising older bowlers signed up for senior league play have cancelled during the cold snap.

"There's just been a few when we've had it (the weather) really bad. Otherwise, we are doing good," Alumbaugh said.

There's no question that it's already been a rough year for drivers, both due to cold-related mechanical failures and just plain old getting stuck in the snow.

Marshall Shell, owner of Shell's Service Center, 985 S. Main, said he started towing cars at 7 a.m. on Monday and still had seven calls lined up at 3:30 p.m. that afternoon. On Sunday, he said, he towed automobiles for nine hours straight.

Common problems, he said, include dead batteries, flat tires and cars that have to be winched out of "places where they shouldn't have been."

Shell said he's answered a number of calls out in the county from drivers of commercial vehicles with four-wheel-drive who managed to get stuck anyway.

"Even new batteries are turning over slow in this weather," he said. "You can have a new car and still have trouble getting started. The best thing is to park inside a garage, if you can. If you can't, try to keep it out of the wind."

Little relief is in site. The National Weather Services is calling for continued severe cold through Friday with an 80 percent chance of more snow on Wednesday.