CLEVELAND — Despite the dreary winter day, Morgan Bruton woke up with a sunny disposition.
“I got out to go on an interview at Amazon at 12:45,” she said.
She had a job interview at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in North Randall. She left her Cleveland home early and took RTA Bus Route 19 from 93rd Street and Miles Avenue. She said the ride is typically no longer than 35 minutes, but Tuesday’s storm derailed those plans.
“Ended up getting stuck right before I even reached Amazon,” she said.
The bus Bruton and other passengers were on, was just one of several that got stuck in Tuesday’s unrelenting snow.
“We just got stuck in a very, very high snowbank.”
After four hours, another RTA bus came to get them, but that bus also suffered the same fate.
“We literally got on this bus and ended up getting stuck right in the middle of the road right near Amazon,” she said.
Linda Krecic with the Greater Cleveland RTA said they’re used to bad weather, but this storm was particularly rough.
“I certainly don’t remember a storm like this in a long time,” she said. “When you see a bus that’s having trouble making it through the snow, you know it’s got to be a bad day.”
Krecic said they’ve experienced service disruptions and delays all day long from snow and loss of power.
Most lines, like the Red Line between West 25th Street and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, are back up and running.
But some are taking a bit longer.
“On the Blue and Green Line, that train is not working and we are not able to provide replacement bus service either on those routes. We apologize for that inconvenience. It’s rare when we can’t get buses to replace those trains,” she said.
It wasn’t just buses and cars getting stuck, emergency vehicles seemed to find themselves in an emergency themselves.
From Cleveland to the Parma Fire Department, ambulances and fire engines were getting stuck on side streets that hadn’t been plowed.
Parma’s engine only was stuck for about 15 minutes, and thankfully, it was when crews were returning from a service call.
“It’s rough enough when you have a car, now you have a multi-ton fire engine in the snow,” said T.J. Martin the Public Information Officer for Parma’s Fire Department.
He said that during the winter months, it’s actually common for trucks to get stuck from time to time, and they always have a plan.
“If one engine can’t get there, another one will get there. If one ambulance gets stuck, we’ll get you another ambulance. We may be delayed a little bit, but we will be there. Our main priority is the safety of our community,” he said.
As for Bruton, she ended up back at her Cleveland home around 7:30 p.m., nearly 8 hours after she got on the bus.
“We were stuck on the other bus for so long that I missed my job interview,” she said.
But she said she’s thankful she is home and safe.
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