Digging out — with some help from neighbors — after the storm

A man with a snowblower helped clear neighborhood driveways east of The Village Shops.

Thursday’s powerful snowstorm may have stymied normal workweek routines, but it brought northeast Johnson County neighbors together in the process.

By the time the first and most substantial wave of the storm had passed, parts of the area were buried under nearly a foot of snow. When the storm broke for a few hours mid-afternoon, residents took advantage of the weather window and escaped their homes to shovel driveways, pick up supplies – and, in many cases, help neighbors free cars trapped by the snow.

Snowblower owners like Prairie Village resident Jeff Rubesch found themselves especially popular as they went up and down the streets offering to clear off driveways for neighbors.

But Mother Nature gave only a brief respite before the second wave of the storm came in the evening, prompting a new day’s worth of closings at area schools and businesses.

A break in the snow provided a window to pick up groceries — and work in a little exercise — on Village Drive.

The tape measure read 8.5″ in our front yard, but other parts of northeast Johnson County saw accumulations closer to a foot.