On Channel 7, I just saw about 5 stories on roof collapsings all having occurred around Boston and up through the North Shore and New Hampshire. Jeremy Reiner shared a map indicating that depending on the region of MA you live in, roofs have to be able to sustain a specific amount of weight per square foot– specifically because of all the snow we get.
Boston, North Shore and South Shore roofs must sustain weight between 30 and 40 pounds per square foot. As you goto the Cape, the numbers decrease to about 20-25 pounds. Central MA was around 25-30 and Western MA requires roofs to sustain 40 lbs or more.
Many of the roofs that collapsed were those of commercial buildings because of the flat top. This reminded me, of course, of the ice dam madness that occurs most frequently (and more likely) on low pitch roofs. Click here to see that post.
As far as I could tell, no one is reported injured, but in most instances, there were people inside. How totally freaky that must have been.
This also means that there has got to be at least 30-40 pounds of snow per square foot on our roofs! And this is not coming to an end just yet– apparently, there’s another snownnoyance* on Saturday.
*snownoyyance = snow annoyance
Here are a few funny snow-comics. Click the thumbnails to see the full comic.
Hausbau…
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