I went into work today replacing the morning shift, when we got news of the possibility (not confirmation yet) that there may be worse weather than previously anticipated. Within 30 minutes of clocking in it started to snow sporadic and lightly. My boss assured me (since I don't have a car atm) that he will return from break (he gets an hour break) early and will close shop and drive me home before things get worse if the snow picked up. I made the mistake of assuming he was telling the truth.
I've been here at the store waiting, power flickering as the snow gets worse, my cell coverage diminishing, and looking at other stores and folk in general getting the heck out of here as now the forecast is calling for increasing intensity. In a couple hours or less there will be a huge wave of snow (and ice from earlier melted snow due to the temperature drop) that will make things incredibly difficult.
But my boss never came back.
I gave him a call when things first started picking up and he said he would call me back in about 15 minutes, that was long ago, he never fucking called back. I called him twice after with no answer, then when I tried calling him again after that? He either turned off his phone off or blocked my number because it went to voicemail.
It has now been hours since then and he still hasn't returned or given me a call back, and I'm the only one here, the snow has gotten worse and we are approaching that time in the forecast soon where the snow will start falling at a heavier rate with a major drop in temperatures, which is already gradually happening. The snow is starting to stick more and more.
Almost everything around is already closed, there is a Hotel close nearby but they only take paying customers. They closed the lobby with that orange wire stuff that restaurants used to block people from using the dining areas of restaurants during covid, because they have employees still worried about it. I saw a few people try to go in over an hour ago, but they were turned down by the staff unless they got a room, they went up the street and eventually caught a ride, but now? No one is driving up here on any rideshare or Taxi service (which would have had inflated prices anyway) as the weather got worse since then.
The hotel wants $122 for a room likely due to the weather. That puts me in a bad situation because I barely get paid much as is and won't get paid until Friday leaving me no way to get a room.
My main concern is that if this shoddy stores power goes out I'm screwed. We are talking 20's (temperature) and dropping soon, I've tried calling some contacts related to the job on the stores landline, but they refer me back to my boss or are too far to get here. I called the local emergency response but they are splitting resources already in main areas that are suffering from snowfall, and trying to prepare the main roads in lighter affected areas before the brunt of the storm blows in within a couple hours. They said it could take several hours to get someone up here, and by then the situation will be much worse.
Still even now, I've received no response from my boss, the fuck completely cut me off despite making his false promise to return, and I have no idea what else to do. At this point my phone has no data and barely can hold a call, so I'm using the stores wifi for internet, and had to already result to the store landline for recent calls. I don't know why he would do this knowing that a worker is stuck here, I'm just left to sit here trapped at work, panicking about whether the power will go out.
Update: Getting dark, low visibility after about 20 feet, snow starting to gradually get higher, video below: