Via Twitter

Via Twitter

Despite all the warnings, a sizable number of residents still defied both the restrictions on parking in snow evacuation routes and pleas from city officials to stay home today.

The Department of Public Works issued 2,837 tickets and towed 409 vehicles between the beginning of the snow emergency yesterday at 9:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. today, according to spokeswoman Linda Grant.

Although that will result in sizable revenues for the city, “I would have hoped we didn’t collect any money,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said, as she continued to urge residents to stay indoors at an evening press conference. “We need people to stay off the roads for their own safety and that of our snow crews and first responders.”

But the mayor didn’t issue a travel ban similar to the one Gov. Andrew Cuomo imposed in New York, saying police resources couldn’t be spared to enforce it.

There were few power outages reported and ambulances have been able to keep up response times that are close to what they normally are sans snow, according to D.C. Fire and EMS Chief Gregory Dean. Meanwhile the D.C. National Guard delivered enough food for two days from DHS to warming centers around the city for residents who need shelter.

Predictions about when the government and Metro will re-open are still up in the blustery air. “With the wind blowing, it’s a hard assessment to say how long it will take to clear the roads,” said D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Director Christopher Geldart. “There are different snow totals in different parts of the city.”

Once the storm stops, officials will begin to assess how quickly the city should open back up. The mayor expects to make an announcement about the schedule for D.C. Public Schools sometime tomorrow afternoon or early evening.

Bowser also said that the city has been “inundated with calls” from residents who need help digging out and put out another call for volunteers.

Once people do start moving cars out and about again, they were reminded that no one can save their parking space. “We ask people to be as considerate as possible of their neighbors. No one owns their parking space” on public streets, said D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier.

Filed Under: bowser, jonas, snow, snow emergency, snow totals, Snowzilla,