Six days after snowstorm Jonas swept into the eastern United States and blanketed the Lehigh Valley in 30 inches of snow in less than two days, residents of Bethlehem were still driving with care.

Some roads were still compacted into a single lane with towering heaps of white on each side, forcing drivers to take turns swerving into driveways to let others pass.

Salt-encrusted metal chairs stood lone watch between solid mounds of curbside snow. Pedestrians trudged precariously mere inches away from traffic because sidewalks still remained impassible.

Early Friday afternoon the Department of Public Works posted a weekend snow clearing schedule on its website and Facebook page, but patient residents had simply dealt with days of frustration wondered how the city seemed so unprepared when the National Weather Service announced the storm’s approach a week in advance.

While these questions have echoed privately and publicly without explanation from city hall, a former city employee who spoke with the Press under the auspice of anonymity said there were many problems behind the scenes.

Equipment and vehicles broke down, perhaps from age, to be replaced inadequately with light pickup trucks mounted with plows.

Some plows used allegedly lack rubber blade guards and thus damaged asphalt and in some instances tore open manholes. This reporter observed a car on West Broad Street with a front end and wheel nearly ripped free with the surrounding snow.

The former employee said some city workers did not attempt to come to work, perhaps because they are not city residents, others are not trained to drive plows at all, and one was stopped by police for driving under the influence, though thankfully not while driving a plow.

Finally the former employee said, in recognition of the city’s lax preparation efforts, outside contractors typically used to augment snowstorm response were not contacted until severe weather was already falling rather than days earlier when availability was optimal.

Reporter’s note: No city department, including the mayor’s office, responded to inquiries about snowstorm response.