Snow and rain wreak havoc on roofs in Pollock Pines, causing leaks and collapses
POLLOCK PINES - The heavy rain overnight is starting to melt the snow in the mountains away, but the damage it has caused for some is far from over.
"This has been horrific. This has been something that has never happened before," said the owner of Ruth's Dolls and Memories Museum, Marlene Ruth. "We are all in awe."
Heavy snow caused the roof of Ruth's museum in Pollock Pines to collapse. It has been home to her life-long collection of 6,000 dolls.
"I started collecting with my mom when I was real little," said Ruth. "She would buy a doll and keep it for me and would not even let me play with it."
Now her museum is crushed under the pressure of snow and ice.
"People come in and they go dolls creep me out. Dolls do not creep me out. This is history," said Ruth. "If you do not want to learn what is going on then you are missing out."
The 87-year-old said they attempted to clear the roof before it caved but the snow has been way too much.
"We cannot keep up with it," said Ruth. "It is four foot in front of the building right now. You cannot even walk in there."
Now, all that snow is melting away. It is adding mud to piles of snow and weight to roofs.
"Everything is quite fine now. I like the rain way better than the snow," said Abby Means, who lives in Pollock Pines.
Many are thankful for the change and no longer having to hunk down without power.
"We got snowed in and it was horrible," said Means. "We were in the house for a couple days and we could not get out."
Although, the rain is not washing the pain of what some people lost like Ruth.
"My next step is whatever we can save," said Ruth. "We will save it."
Ruth's Dolls and Memories Museum is just one building that collapsed in the storms. Other roofs like the Safeway in Pollock Pines were also at risk.
"We got four feet of snow up there getting wet, and then we got three inches of rain last night," said local contractor Larry Rivard. "That is just a big sponge of wet stuff."
At least a dozen people were on the roof of Safeway shoveling snow that was quickly turning to ice on Friday.
"I know what we gotta do," said Rivard. "I have seen it worse, but it is not bad right now."
The heavy snow load clogged the drains on the roof, causing some leaks.
"We will open up the drains, and we will open up runways so that the water will flow into it," Rivard told CBS 13.
The refrigerators inside the grocery store rely on the units on the snow-covered roof.
"The dairy products doors are starting to stick and not open," said Rivard.
Structurally, things were still intact, and after a brief closure, customers were back inside shopping.
"I heard 1989 was the last time they had it this bad," said Beverly Moore who lives in Pollock Pines. "As far as this much snow."
Moore was snowed-in at least three different times over the past few weeks.
"It is like deep. It is horrible," said Moore. "We had to pay three times to have our lane cleared."
The break in the weather Friday gave crews the much-needed time to get work on the roof done, and for others to return to regular business.
"It has melted the snow quite a bit, so we can actually get in and out of our driveway now," said Means.
