Bergen County Residents Dig Themselves Out After Winter Storm Drops Near Record-Breaking Amount Of Snow
TENAFLY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- New Jersey residents spent Tuesday digging themselves out of a near record-breaking amount of snow.
Whether you use a snow blower, a shovel or a sand shovel, it gets the job done.
"Is Dad gonna pay you?" CBS2's Vanessa Murdock asked a young boy who was helping to shovel.
"No, I don't think so," he said.
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Along Washington Street in Tenafly, shop owners showed up to make sure patrons can make it to the door.
"We tried this morning," said Wilson Barrera, owner of Chez Cheese.
It's an effort much appreciated by Henry Asulin, of Alpine.
"It's got to come up to probably here in some places," Asulin said.
He says digging out wasn't easy, but playing in the fresh fallen snow with his pup, Corey, was pure perfection.
Watch Vanessa Murdock's report --
CBS2 caught up with Peter Gilhooly while putting in the work to clear his Demarest driveway. He says he's lived in Jersey his whole life.
"This is one of the bigger ones, there's no doubt," he said.
He estimates he picked up more than 2 feet, but the snow only measured 16 inches.
"Tell that to my back," Gilhooly said, laughing.
LINK: Check The Latest Forecast | Winter Storm Survival Guide
There were big numbers across Bergen County. Tenafly picked up 14 inches, Closter 22.4 inches and Paramus 27 inches, according to some reports. But it's a far cry from the biggest numbers in the Garden State.
Measurements still waiting on verification go as high as 30 inches in Mendham and 32 inches in Newton. Both are so close to the all-time record: 34 inches in Cape May in 1899.
"It's absolutely fantastic. I believe it might be the best we've seen," Closter resident Janine Micera said.
Micera had nothing but positive vibes, which makes sense when you hear this -- she's the lucky recipient of back-to-back snow days; she works at a nursery school.
"We've had two snow days 'cause the kids are little, so in this kind of snow, we might lose one," she said.
PHOTOS: Powerful Winter Storm Dumps Snow Across Tri-State Area
In Paramus, Murdock had to shout to speak with a resident named Sean because so much snow stood between them.
"How long will it take for you to shovel your way out?" Murdock asked.
"This, I won't even get it done today ... Maybe it'll be the end of March," Sean said.
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Omar Cardoza spent the whole day digging out his driveway on Dorothy Avenue in Rochelle Park.
"Really hard, you know, because it was a lot of snow," he told CBS2's Jessica Layton.
He decided just before dusk to finally draw the line at a car parked beneath a mound of snow.
"It's gonna stay for a while like that," he said.
Emerson Merona was slightly out of breath as he tried to clear a sidewalk, but who can blame him? It was the third time in one day the Glen Rock man had been out clearing heavy snow.
"I don't wanna end up fixing this tomorrow because it will basically ice up, so it'll be much harder," he said.
While the pros continued plowing and spreading salt well into Tuesday evening, snow banks piled high in Paramus, where some parts got 27 inches. Parts of Morris County, like Mendhem, saw upwards of 30 inches.
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Driving was still a little tricky on some side streets. One Domino's deliveryman decided to walk pizza to customers who couldn't, or just didn't want to, leave the house.
"Maybe more the 20 blocks," the deliveryman said. "I love this weather."
Meanwhile, in River Edge, you could feel the warmth father Amir Khan and his 18-year-old son, Qaasm Khan, have for family. When Qaasm's uncle called for help Tuesday morning, they didn't hesitate.
"He hurt his back shoveling this morning, so he called us, asked if we could help. Here we are," Qaasm Khan said.
"That's what family is about," Amir Khan said.
They rushed over right after shoveling out their own two feet of snow in New Milford.
"We cleared that walkway," Amir Khan said. "We still have all of this to go and then we have to pull the cars out."
As they scrape, lift and toss, it isn't lost on them that there's the potential for another storm this weekend. But this dad plans to do things a little differently; he's calling a private contractor.
"I raised the flag already, and I'm ready for Sunday," Amir Khan said.
CBS2's Vanessa Murdock and Jessica Layton contributed to this report.
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