'Heads should roll': Topeka man clears city streets of snow with his own equipment

TOPEKA (KSNT) — People in Topeka are still struggling to dig their way out from the piles of snow, so one resident is trying to help as many people as he can.

Some Topeka residents have been unable to leave their home after seeing more than 14 inches of snow five days ago. City crews started a second round of plowing city streets Friday.

One man saw first-hand that not every city road was plowed the first time around, however, and is taking it upon himself to help out.

"I saw a lot of posts on Facebook about people needing help and saying the city didn't get to us," Topeka resident Chris Olinde said. "'You know, we're in phase one, we're in phase two,' and it just didn't happen. And I ended up having a couple of days off because of the snow. So I thought, well, I'll just as well help people out."

For the past three days, Olinde and his skid steer have worked to clear more than 30 blocks in the capital city, and he is continuing to get hundreds of messages asking him to clear streets that the city didn't.

"These people haven't been touched," Olinde said. "Look at this, does it look like it's been touched?"

"Since the snow on Sunday, we have not been able to leave," Topeka resident Darlene Streeter said. "We have done SeeClickFix, we have called the phone number, that's all we know to do."

What's driving Olinde? Knowing his neighbors need to get out.

"It is just amazing, it's gotta be one of the feel-good stories of the year," Streeter said. "Being able to leave now and go get groceries and my husband's meds get delivered here and it will just be wonderful to be able to get out again and I can't believe someone is that kind and wonderful."

Olinde and Streeter know there's a lot of streets in Topeka packed with snow, but say everyone should be able to get back on the roads.

"I know it's a very tough job and everybody's been very busy doing their best, but everyone counts, even us small neighborhoods like us," Streeter said. "We still have jobs to do, kids to get to school, things we need and so we really need to be able to leave our houses also."

"I think the workers are doing their best, I think whoever planned this, heads should roll," Olinde said. "This is ridiculous."

On Friday afternoon, the City of Topeka announced in a news release its 21 city trucks and 6 contractors have completed all main roads and arterials, and will shift focus on treating residential streets until "all city streets are passable".

We have heard from many of you upset the city of Topeka hasn’t reached your neighborhood. We’ve also seen it ourselves. We take our job of getting answers from the city and holding the powerful accountable seriously. We will continue asking the city for answers when the information doesn’t add up.

For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.