Smithsonian Warehouse Roof Collapses After Snowfall
February 11th, 2010 - 8:23 pm ICT by GDBy Gina Gomez
Feb 11 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Owing to the heavy blizzard and snowfall, the roof of a Smithsonian warehouse collapsed on February 10 in Baltimore, Maryland. The famous museum is located in Baltimore which has witnessed record snowfall in the past few days. The Smithsonian warehouse contains valuable and decades-old artifacts, engines and aircraft from the National Air and Space Museum. The historic building was constructed in the 1950s. The roof collapse in this building clearly indicates the lethal nature of the deadly storm currently afflicting the East Coast. The incident occurred in the Garber Facility in Suitland, Maryland.
Fortunately, the valuable artifacts in the building were not affected by the incident, but gas and electricity has been cut off for inspection of the extent of damage. The items stored in the museum belong to specific historical periods. The team of firefighters reached the spot around 6.49 AM. According to emergency crews, though the artifacts were spared, the building is unstable and people should refrain from visiting it. The warehouse management announced that the property would be closed to visitors for the time being as a precautionary measure. A thorough assessment of the site will be made later.
The Smithsonian roof is not a case in isolation. The second snowstorm which bombarded the East Coast within days of the first, has caused many roofs to collapse in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Due to the quick succession of heavy blizzards within days of each other, more houses and buildings run the risk of facing a roof collapse. Sometimes the shape of the roof and parapets act as a snow trap causing more snow to collect and gather more mass and weight, increasing the risk of a potential roof collapse.
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Tags: air and space, air and space museum, artifacts, blizzard, blizzards, deadly storm, delaware pennsylvania, emergency crews, firefighters, garber facility, gina gomez, national air and space museum, parapets, precautionary measure, record snowfall, roof collapse, smithsonian, snowstorm, suitland maryland, warehouse management