Belgium winter storm aftermath: 'We weren’t prepared for this'

BELGIUM, Wis. - People in Belgium are coping as well as they can with the leftovers of this week's snowstorm.

Dev Gill owns Belgium Plaza, and he would have never been able to stay open all night and make sure customers had food and gas without help. 

"We weren't prepared for this," said Gill.

People in Belgium were not prepared for the amount of snow and how it came down in a blink of an eye. Gill would have been stranded if not for his snow plow.

Dev Gill

"If we didn't touch it, we would be buried today," said Gill.

Gill was determined to keep his store open; closing was not an option for him.

"We're 24 hours, and we got the McDonald's, and they are open, and we just got to keep customers safe," Gill said.

FOX6 Meteorologists said this area got close to a foot of snow.

"We have a few semis get stuck in the parking lot," said Gill. "But we were trying to keep up the best we can and clear it out as fast as it came down."

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"This is definitely packing snow," said Jenna Cawlfield, a resident in Belgium.

Jenna Cawlfield

Cawlfield is spending her snow day working.

"Right now, I'm shoveling," said Cawlfield.

Very heavy, very wet, hard to do with just a shovel and a person," said Cawlfield. "We need more people than just one."

Cawlfield said driving in it Wednesday night was an even bigger challenge.

"I'm actually driving a rental because the previous Thursday," said Cawlfield. "I put my car in the ditch, so, uh, haha, it's been rough with the ice and slush." 

It's something that can happen to anyone.

"We were good, luckily; the car took the brunt of it but just shaken up," said Cawlfield.

Cawlfield said she wants this to be a reminder for drivers to be safe.

"So I hope everybody out there stayed safe and took it slow," said Cawlfield.

People in Belgium said this is the heaviest snow they have pushed in years.