Philly crews still working to clear piles of snow nearly one week after storm
Nearly one week after a major winter storm swept across the Philly region, frozen piles of snow and other weather-related issues continue to impact residents.
In South Philadelphia, city crews were shutting down streets on Saturday in order to get rid of the large piles of snow that have frozen over in the bitter cold.
“I’m glad it’s finally happening a week later,” said Maryann Mont, of Greys Ferry. “I think getting rid of piles of snow will free up some room for parking and room for us to move around.”
City officials say they have been sending crews out daily, but side streets in North and South Phill are a challenge because the process includes crews putting snow into dump trucks and moving it.
Officials say the process is time consuming, and that they have received over 1,200 311 calls.
Anyone in Philadelphia who needs their road cleared should call 311, city officials said.
Another issue across the city is sidewalks that have not been shoveled. NBC10’s Miguel Martinez-Valle observed that sidewalks near Federal and Broad are still completely covered with snow, even though the city code requires property owners to shovel sidewalks within six hours after snowfall.
The snow and brutal cold hitting the region (we have gone eight days below freezing and are expected to not hit above 32 degrees until Monday) is also causing issues for people while they are inside.
At the Smith School Apartments in South Philly, around 20% of the building’s units have been going without heat.
The Owlia family resides in one of the units impacted, and they said they have been huddling up in their bedroom for two weeks due to the living room being unlivable due to the cold.
“Here is very cold, and I had to move to only one bedroom,” said Roya Owlia.
NBC10 covered similar issues in the same building last year, and Licenses and Inspections records from Friday, Jan. 20, 2026, showed the building failed a property maintenance inspection and has an open mechanical equipment violation.
We reached out to building’s owner, OCF Realty, and the CEO, Orrie Feibush, said the issue is with the heating system.
“We completed a very extensive repair of the HVAC in the spring after last year’s issues and feel terrible for some of our tenants that are experiencing issues again,” he said.
Feibush also said they are installing secondary heating units and are offering credits or alternative housing for people impacted. They are hoping to have a crew out Monday to repair the issues.
The Owlias say they are trying to move as soon as possible after having to live in the cold.
“Yu see what I put on, it’s like Alaska. Maybe Alaska is better than here.”
