Winter 2013 Roof Collapses … in Pictures!
The year 2013 already has been a memorable one in terms of winter precipitation. The first two months of the year saw significant snow dropped across different parts of the country. In some of these areas, the accumulation has gotten the better of the roofs and gutters of buildings and homes. Here are some images of the worst instances of roof collapses:
February of this year saw substantial snowfall across the state of Missouri. In Gladstone, the roof of Dana & Priscilla’s School of Dance caved in on the morning of February 22. Thankfully, no dancers or adults were in the building at the time of the incident.
Photographs of snow-collapsed roofs are not that uncommon, but it’s rare when you actually see a roof collapse under a blanket of accumulated snow. So check out this short video of the Eagles Club in Belton, Missouri on the morning of February 26. Note the sound the wood makes as it finally gives out due to the excess weight.
On the same day, an almost 10,000-square foot section of the roof of the Covered M Arena in Shawnee, Kansas collapsed under a layer of wet snow. Fortunately, no humans or horses were hurt. Ironically, horse owners in the area were praying for precipitation to help alleviate a hay shortage.
Heavy snow struck the northeast earlier in February. On the day before Valentine’s Day, Vinny’s Home and Garden Showplace in Wallingford, Connecticut saw the roof of its greenhouse collapse due to the white stuff. This undoubtedly disappointed customers who wanted to buy a nice plant for their sweetheart this year.
Three days earlier, about 45 miles to the northeast, Tolland, Connecticut suffered through over 33 inches of snow. That caused the dome bubble roof of The Star Hill Family Athletic Center to collapse. Though no injuries were reported, numerous activities scheduled to be held at the center had to be cancelled.
The Connecticut snow actually began falling earlier in the weekend. Early in the morning of February 9, this warehouse’s roof collapsed in the town of Clinton, which is about 25 miles southeast of Wallingford on the coast of the Long Island Sound. The good news? At least the building was vacant at the time. On the same day, other areas of the northeast got slammed with snow as well. In Suffolk County, New York, (on Long Island), the Smithtown Lanes bowling alley saw its roof cave in under a massive amount of snow. According to this news report, the incident caused a gas leak and broke several sprinkler pipes, causing water to flood parts of the building.
Heavy snow blanketed some of the Western states in late January, and some of it was heavy enough to cause structural problems. Even though its roof was pitched and not flat, this storage building in Roy, Utah — just southwest of Ogden — experienced a snow-related cave-in, damaging a total of 20 storage units.
Finally, a roof collapse elsewhere in Utah claimed the life of a construction worker on February 26. Crews were preparing a former Kmart in Brigham City for demolition when the roof collapsed. As you can see, a huge portion of the building’s roof fell in, but investigators aren’t sure to what extent the snow layer play a role in the collapse.