More lessons from the snowstorm

The handling of the snowstorm by all government organisations, the army, Civil Defence, Public Security, the Gendarmerie, the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) and indeed the private sector was of superior quality.

In comparison with last year’s chaotic performance, the electricity company did very well, too, dealing with thousands of complaints, under severe weather conditions, successfully and satisfactorily.

And for people who were trapped at home due to snow-blocked roads in the elevated hills of Tla Al Ali since last Tuesday, like ourselves, Jordan TV, which allocated most of the time to keeping Jordanians fully informed of minute-by-minute developments all over the country, did a great job.

Reporters in the field in various storm-hit parts of the country were regularly and repeatedly invited during live coverage, day and night, to explain conditions in their areas, to inform the public about what should be expected next and how to prepare to deal with the situation, to describe highways and road conditions, which roads should either be closed or open to traffic but with extreme caution, and to relay to all Jordanians official warnings advising them to stay at home for their safety, except for extreme emergencies. 

Despite the clarity, and indeed the adequacy, of repeated official guidelines, warnings and advice, some tragic accidents happened, primarily due to either lack of awareness or outright negligence.

There were two issues of grave concern. One relates to dangerous means of keeping warm, the other concerns dangerous driving during inclement weather conditions. 

Some heaters, using gas, kerosene or wood, in poorly ventilated spaces are dangerous, and have been the cause, this year and in the past, of lethal accidents.

Electrical heaters are generally safer, but once usage is out of proportion, they overload the system and cause power failures.

Heating is a problem in the country. Safer heating is well beyond the means of a large sector of the population, and in such severe winters, the people who cannot afford it tend to take risks with cheaper means to remain relatively warm.

One major reason for the high cost, other than the high price of fuel, is that most of our older houses are not insulated. The walls are not insulated and solid concrete keeps our homes very cold in winter and very warm in summer. Insulated walls save a lot of heating and cooling costs.

I am not sure if it is mandatory for all new buildings to be properly insulated. 

Other cause of loss of expensive heating is loose windows and doors, through which a lot of heat escapes. Most estimates recommend that a saving of no less than 40 per cent of the heating cost can be reached with proper house insulation. 

Next is the issue of reckless driving. As a dry country, where water is extremely precious, we consider rain and snow a grace from God. Often people view regular rain in the winter as a promise for a generous and plentiful year.

But snow for many Jordanians is a source of fun and joy as well. They like to drive around with their children to show them the white fields and the beautifully snow-covered trees and surroundings. They also like to stop and play with the snow.

Not only Jordanians; all people love it and do it, but within reason. I still keep as souvenir one of the wood sleighs that my kids used, winter after winter, in Belgium when I lived there, more than 30 years ago.

We could still do that, but we need to take strict precautions to prevent the possibility of turning fun into tragedy.

In the past, snow falls in Jordan were fewer, lighter and kinder. Snow did not last long and did not come with severe cold that left our streets icy and extremely dangerous to use for most of the time.

Heavy-duty vehicles are good for driving on snow, but no vehicle, except chained ones, can drive safely on ice that is hardly visible; that is why it is called “black ice”. 

No matter how careful or slow, driving on frozen roads is suicidal. Cars skid out of control at any movement, endangering their occupants and others.

Salt and fine gravel is sprayed on frozen roads in countries that regularly suffer from such conditions to keep moving. But that is too expensive for a country like Jordan.

GAM used salt for some major roads this time, but it will be impossible to spray every road in the country. It may also involve storage beforehand of huge amounts of salt for probable storms that may not come. That also is not an easy undertaking.

Last year, people went out during the storm unnecessarily, their vehicles got stuck in snow, they made the road conditions worse, they added enormously to the load of the security and city authorities that needed all their potential to deal with emergencies and priorities, not hundreds of abandoned vehicles, and they impeded the work of the of the vehicles trying to clear the roads for emergencies and other vital services. 

That is why people were advised this time to stay at home, except when it was vitally important to get out of the house.

The country was shut down for at least four working days to ensure maximum public safety and smooth emergency services, but people still ventured out and there were accidents and fatalities. 

The weather pattern in Jordan and the larger region is definitely changing and we need to adapt. It is not a bad idea to have a reasonable supply of basic necessities always, not just ahead of possible storms, as emergencies do not always give adequate advance warning, but without exaggerated hoarding and undue panic buying.

We learned other lessons from this storm. We have been in our house for three days without water because the pipes froze and some burst. That is simply because we did not have all external pipes insulated. We are often reminded to protect water meters but equally important is to properly insulate all exposed pipes to prevent freezing.

It might be a very good idea for GAM to prepare and publish a pocket-size booklet with instructions and guidelines for all citizens on how to prepare for winter, even for hot summers, how to maintain their houses, how to take precautions against cold weather, how to use electricity, how to prepare their cars — new tyres or even snow tyres (not yet common in this country), how to solve the problem of heating, etc.

The booklet could also contain a list of useful, credible, authorised addresses of service providers in various fields accredited by GAM. There should be an address at GAM where to report any malfunction of the companies listed. 

Things are definitely changing. Old ways do not apply any more. Our ways need to be updated, according to the accelerating changes.