In the Ninth Ward of New Orleans on Tuesday, levees built to hold the Mississippi River at bay suddenly provided the perfect slope for sledding. And in a place unaccustomed to such activity, pieces of cardboard, storage container covers and a hard plastic lid cut from a rolling trash bin became vehicles for sliding through the snow.
Owen Reilly, 9, was using a metal cookie sheet.
“It seemed like it was scientifically impossible for it to snow here,” Owen said, brushing white flakes from his hands. He had never seen it happen in his lifetime.
The Gulf Coast is a part of the world that is deeply and frustratingly familiar with extreme weather. The Ninth Ward was practically flooded out by Hurricane Katrina. It is also a place where many take particular pride in taking such events in stride, even bragging about sleeping through Category 1 hurricanes.
But snowfall is rare; enough snowfall to accumulate on the ground, even rarer. So, the powder on Tuesday inspired plenty of excitement and delight as people (and pets) ventured outside, setting aside worries about frozen pipes and slippery roads to savor something that felt special.
“This is a treat for us,” Monique Gary, 62, said as she walked her golden retriever in Lafayette, La. Even so, she added, “it’s a little unnerving.” She hoped she did not lose her heat or water — a major problem during winter storms in recent years in Louisiana.
Zinnia Dayrit, 40, woke up and went right to building three knee-high snowmen in the Cotton Grove neighborhood of Houston with her son and his girlfriend. Then, they had a snowball fight.
“I’ve lived in Houston all my life — 40 years — and these are the biggest snowflakes I’ve ever seen and the thickest snowfall I’ve ever seen,” Ms. Dayrit said.
Reind Kreidieh, 41, shrieked with joy as she flew down the street in Houston on a paddle board attached to her neighbor’s Nissan sedan. She slid back and forth, the board kicking up snow as she howled with laughter. She and her neighbors had taken turn “skitching,” or “ski hitching.”
“It’s very fun!” she said, seemingly stating the obvious.
Elsewhere in Houston, Stacey Franklin, 44, walked along an esplanade with her cat, Penelope, in a carrier under a blanket. “Look, they’re building a snowman!” she said to Penelope.
“I just thought she would want to see all the snow,” she explained. “It’s a momentous occasion.”
Wes Ralston’s yell cut through the silent, snowy morning at a neighborhood ballpark in Northwest Houston. “Hut hut hike!”
Mr. Ralston, 51, tossed a football to his 10-year-old son, Holt, and tackled him to the ground. The two rolled around in the snow, laughing, until their faces turned bright red. They had been outside for hours, taking advantage of a day without work or school.
“A couple of inches of snow makes it a whole lot easier to take your dad sitting on you when he tackles you,” Mr. Ralston said as he brushed snow off his winter coat.
They planned to go sledding next.
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