OK, so it snows in North Dakota. Get over it.

That might be easy to say, but it’s hard to take literally.

Still, Minot residents came close by bravely pitching in and helping each other get through the first winter storm of the season this past week.

All around town people were pushing out cars stuck in parking lots and on city streets, in many cases, people who were complete strangers. Comments were overheard about neighbor helping neighbor with shoveling duties, again, an unexpected pleasantry performed under most unpleasant circumstances.

We said it before and will say it again – city, state and county road crews did an outstanding job of keeping traffic moving as best as taxpayers can afford. And the city especially did an outstanding job of keeping the public informed about what snow removal was in progress and what the next priority would be.

Now that the cleanup is well underway, it would be a good time for each of us to look around and take stock. What items were missing from our snow emergency kits? Do we even have snow emergency kits – for at home and in our vehicles? Maybe a shovel or an extra pair of gloves?

And perhaps most important, we should determine who living in our neighborhood is the most vulnerable and at risk because of age, health, financial distress, etc. Is somebody checking on them on a regular basis?

Minoters should give themselves a pat on the back for the way they dealt with the first winter storm of the season, but this is no time to become complacent.

The next storm might bring less snow than this first storm did, but future storms will undoubtedly bring bitterly cold temperatures that pose even greater danger to the vulnerable and ill-prepared.