‘This is a winter from the '80s': Syracuse plow driver helping community during rough winter
If you were traveling through the Eastwood neighborhood in Syracuse on Monday morning, Feb. 17, you may have passed John Monaghan in his pickup truck with a plow on the front.
Federal funding freeze may make it hard to fight wildfires
State Attorney General investigating complaints at CNYSPCA
Federal workers protest job cuts in 'Not Our President's Day' rally
'This is a winter from the '80s': Syracuse plow driver helping community during rough winter
NEW: Heavy snow to pound areas north of Syracuse
'This is a winter from the '80s. I've been here a long time. The last several years, we haven't gotten anything,' Monaghan said. 'Now, we are back to old school here. Mother Nature showed up this winter.'
For the last eight years, Monaghan has been plowing driveways from Eastwood all the way out to Bridgeport. He says he enjoys doing it because he likes helping people who can't do it themselves.
'The elderly people can not do it on their own. What would they do if we were not here? That's what got me into it,' Monaghan said. 'Besides doing my own driveway, that's what would happen. I'd get a phone call from a friend saying, 'Hey, I got an 88-year-old neighbor who can't take care of their own driveway. Would you be interested in helping her out?''
Monaghan has gained himself a steady six clients.
'The neighbors I take care of are all elderly. I take care of Mary over here and Judy over there. They have appointments to go to. They have to go to the doctors,' Monaghan said. 'They have to get out of their driveway and they have no one to do it for them. '
On days like this, he'll post his phone number on Facebook to see if anyone else needs assistance.
'Having a plow in the driveway, people see it, people ask so I take care of several of my neighbors,' Monaghan said. 'Had the day off from work today, got hit pretty good, figured I'd help out a few more neighbors.'
Monahan says he got 12 calls today for his services. He also helps shovel sidewalks, stairs and pathways for neighbors.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Yahoo
San Angelo residents now able to apply for FEMA assistance after Texas flooding
President Trump has officially added Tom Green County to the Major Disaster Declaration for Individual Assistance Support from FEMA, according to a release from U.S. Rep. August Pfluger's office. On Friday, Pfluger, R-San Angelo, announced that Tom Green and San Saba counties have been added to the list that now includes Burnet, San Saba, Tom Green, Travis, and Williamson Counties for Individual Assistance. Kendall, Kimble, Menard, and San Saba Counties were also added for Public Assistance, including direct Federal assistance. If you have been impacted by the floods, visit the FEMA website to request support at San Angelo Mayor Tom Thompson said the efforts of the citizens submitting flood survey's over the past six days have paid off. "Residents of San Angelo may now be eligible to apply for individual assistance through FEMA," Thompson said. "This IA declaration will also potentially open up additional federal recovery funding programs for our citizens and businesses. "On behalf of the City, I want to sincerely thank every person who completed a disaster assessment and every volunteer who stepped up to help. This is a great step forward towards the road of recovery for our community. We will continue to share recovery program information updates as they become available. To every citizen of San Angelo—you should be proud of what you've accomplished." Tom Green County Judge Lane Carter said the efforts in formulating the data needed from the citizens are finally coming to fruition. "We owe a huge thanks to Congressman August Pfluger and his office for assisting with this and moving the ball down the field," Carter said. "We owe a tremendous amount of thanks to the volunteers who assisted our citizens in this effort. The recovery efforts are one step at a time, but at this rate, we will overcome." In a special meeting held by the city council on Thursday afternoon, Shane Kelton Executive Director of Public Work with the city said there were 1,520 iSTAT Damage Surveys were submitted. He said 705 homes had minor damage, 463 with major damage and 58 homes were considered a total loss. More: Police, City of San Angelo issue order of restricted areas due to flooding More: San Angelo pets in need after historic flood This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Tom Green County residents can now apply for FEMA flood assistance
UPI
17-07-2025
- UPI
Magnitude 7.3 earthquake reported in southern Alaska
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Alaska on Wednesday about 54 miles south of Sand Point. Image by U.S. Geological Survey July 16 (UPI) -- A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Alaska on Wednesday and a tsunami warning was canceled two hours later for the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island. The quake struck at 12:37 p.m. local time at a depth of 12.5 miles about 54 miles south of Sand Point, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake was felt throughout the Alaska Peninsula and southern Alaska, the Alaska Earthquake Center said. Anchorage, the state's capital, is about 557 miles from the quake center. The Alaska Earthquake Center reported about 30 aftershocks in two hours after the earthquake. The largest one was magnitude 5.2. Dave Snider, a tsunami warning coordinator with the National Tsunami Warning Center, told KTUU-TV because it happened in shallow water they were "not expecting a large event." The National Weather Service in Anchorage, Alaska, first issued a tsunami warning right after the quake, then it was downgraded and lifed at 2:43 p.m. Warnings were sounded in Sand Point, Cold Bay and Kodiak. The Kodiak Emergency Operations Center reported a 6-inch wave that was confirmed by the U.S. Coast Guard. State Seismologist Michael West told KTUU-TV that activity is common after an earthquake and aftershocks can be expected in the "coming days, weeks and even months." The area is part of Pacific "Ring of Fire." "This is the fifth earthquake exceeding magnitude 7.0 in a very small stretch of the Aleutians, just a couple hundred kilometers, since 2020," West said. "Clearly, something is going on."
USA Today
15-07-2025
- USA Today
2025 has become 'the year of the flood.' Why is it raining so much?
If you think this summer has been wetter and rainier than usual, you're right. Daily tropical downpours, deadly flash floods and crushing humidity: If you think summer 2025 has been wetter and rainier than usual, you're right. "2025 has been the year of the flood," said WPLG-TV meteorologist Michael Lowry in a July 15 email to USA TODAY. "The tragic July 4th flooding in central Texas – the deadliest flash flood in at least 50 years in the U.S. – punctuated what's been an especially bad year for flooding across the country." In fact, "so far in 2025, National Weather Service offices have issued more flood warnings than any other year on record dating back to 1986," Lowry said. In addition to the catastrophic flooding in Texas, life-threatening flooding and record rainfall has been reported in New Mexico, North Carolina and other East Coast states this month. Why is this? What's going on? It's the humidity "In general, atmospheric moisture in the areas that have seen the most flooding this year has been historically high," Lowry told USA TODAY. "We can look at dew point temperature as a gauge for how soupy it's been," he said. "The dew point temperature has been much higher than average across parts of Texas and over nearly the entire eastern third of the U.S." So why has it been so humid? The main reason is due to the unusually warm waters of the Atlantic and the Gulf this season. "The subtropical waters around the U.S., and especially off the Eastern Seaboard, have warmed considerably, and the stronger flow out of the south and east around the Bermuda High has swept all of that muggy air from offshore much farther inland," Lowry said. Indeed, the Bermuda/Azores high has been abnormally strong so far this year, and clockwise flow around that area of high pressure pulls moisture from the ocean and Gulf directly into the United States. "So the bottom line is higher humidity levels from warmer waters around the U.S. have contributed to the record flooding we've seen so far this year," Lowry said. Wet spring also set the stage In addition, AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Pastelok told USA TODAY that the wet spring in the East also set the stage for the soggy summer that's followed. He said the sodden ground from heavy rain in April and May has contributed to the flooding we've been seeing in summer. Furthermore, Pastelok said there's been a lack of potent cold fronts sweeping down from Canada, which act to reduce humidity levels. He did say that a cold front in mid-July, the first one in quite a while, will at least temporarily help ease the crushing humidity in the Midwest and parts of the Northeast later this week. DC deluges One city that's seen a high number of flash floods this summer is Washington, D.C., which has seen an unusual number of weather alerts related to rain and flooding this year. In a typical year, the weather service office in the DC-Baltimore area issues one or two moderate risk rainfall outlooks. This July alone, there have already been three: July 1, 9 and 14, CNN reported. "In the past month, there have only been seven days when the DC-Baltimore area wasn't under any excessive rainfall threat," CNN said. What about climate change? Climate change can affect the intensity and frequency of precipitation, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which said that "warmer oceans increase the amount of water that evaporates into the air. When more moisture-laden air moves over land or converges into a storm system, it can produce more intense precipitation — for example, heavier rain and snow storms." Hourly rainfall rates have grown heavier in nearly 90% of large US cities since 1970, according to a recent study from the nonprofit research group Climate Central. (This story has been updated to correct a misspelling/typo.)
