I’ve seen relatively recent news reports of needing a few days to dig some spots free of a blizzard’s worth, but that’s true in a lot of flatter places in the country, and it is *a few days* not “see you in the spring!”

Yep. And even needing a few days to dig out isn’t a few days without EMS. It may take a few hours in an emergency, but not days or weeks. The places that are in trouble are the places where there isn’t a long history of heavy snow and procedures, like those California villages that got slapped.