Whether using sand or salt, locals encourage taking heavy precaution before a snowstorm
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — “We really have to judge things ahead of time,” Chaseburg resident Vicki Rach said.
Rach always tries to be prepared for a big snowstorm.
“Not new to us, no,” Rach said. “And we live up on the ridge, so it could get pretty wicked up there.”
Sometimes the snow and ice can make simple tasks difficult.
“Getting out of our house, and down into our driveway, and out of our driveway is probably the biggest task that we have daily,” Rach said.
And she never rules out accidents.
“If you fall, let’s say break a leg or something, there may be nobody there that even sees you out there,” Rach said. “And you really have to worry about hypothermia.”
But she makes sure to buy sand and salt mix when battling the storm.
“We use a little bit of both,” Rach said.
This gives ACE Hardware of La Crosse a boost for business.
“Usually a couple days prior, lot of people call for the palettes of stuff,” ACE Hardware industrial sales representative Timm Holt said.
And they’ll sell tons of pounds worth of mix to organizations in the city.
“All day long. Palette after palette after palette,” Holt said. “Usually with customers, they’ll pick up maybe two to three bags at a time. I mean, they’re 50 pound bags.”
As for which to buy, Timm Holt says salt is best to help melt the ice.
But salt isn’t all good.
“Salt is bad for concrete,” Holt said. “Especially if it’s new.”
Holt says sand is a good alternative.
“You want to put a sand mixture down, for that traction part,” Holt said. “Not so much the melting, but for traction.”
Holt says people tend to favor salt over sand.
Either way, Rach makes sure her garage is stocked up.
“We have a number of things,” Rach said. “We have salt in our garage. We have sand in our garage all the time. Luckily, we have a gravel driveway so that helps.”
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