It's crazy down here

hoffse

Rockymountaingirl, hope you and your H are safe in Atlanta (and anybody else who lives there).  Gridlock from the snow yesterday afternoon is still going.  It took my MIL about 9 hours to go less than 10 miles.  She eventually abandoned her car and walked to an office building that stayed open all night.  It looks like the gridlock will continue through much of the day today also.  Same thing here in Birmingham.  Cars abandoned left and right so people can get warm.  This sort of weather is so rare down here that the cities just aren't prepared for it.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/gridlock-continues-as-unspeakably-horrible-commute/nc53m/

mana8503

I hope everyone is ok!  This winter is crazy!  I couldn't believe the places getting wintry mix last night!

Xstatic3333

Wow that sounds horrible! T&P to all of you down there! I couldn't tell from the article-was it snow or an ice storm?

brij2006

I hope you all are okay and warm. 

Did you have to go into work today?

CuriousKiddosMama

We didn't get hit as bad as you guys (Houston) but DH went into work yesterday, and I was very nervous of his drive. It was a lot worse on the way home, like it was everywhere across the south, but he was able to stay off the highway overpasses and drove on surface streets so even though his drive was longer he said it was okay. There were lots of reports of overpasses icing again for us though. Hope everyone was able to stay safe and find a warm spot last night.

IAmSherlocked

Of hoffse, your poor MIL! Is she ok? How are things up in your area?

It's absolutely crazy down here, I hope you all are staying safe! Luckily I'm working from home today so I don't have to leave the house. DH left for work yesterday in his truck at about 3:00 (he works nights), and came back home around 6:30. It normally takes him 15 minutes to drive to work, but he got stuck on the roads and couldn't even make it in. He ended up turning around, and they shut down the road behind him, and then the road in front of him was blocked off so he parked the truck at a church and walked 2 miles home.

I don't think we'd be able to go anywhere even if we wanted to--the road behind us is a steep hill with several sharp turns and it looks like the whole thing is iced over. I haven't seen a single car drive past at all today.

I remember a few years ago when we lived in CO and thought it was bizarre that Atlanta had shut down because of a few inches of snow--I can see now exactly how that can happen though!

vlagrl29

how much snow did you get?

IAmSherlocked

We're about a half hour north of Atlanta and we only got maybe an inch or so of snow, but there was ice mixed in with it too. The city doesn't have the equipment to deal with snow so there's no sand, salt, mag chloride, or anything, and it all turned to ice overnight. My whole neighborhood looks like a scene from the Walking Dead with all the abandoned cars around here--I keep hearing about accidents and am just hoping that everyone stays safe!

orangehills

I've been reading about that, so crazy!! I hope everyone is able to make it home and keep safe!! It's so bizarre too, because where I live in Northern CA we are having a massive drought and it's not getting colder than like 60 during the day. Such a weird winter!!

hoffse

Yeah we got about two inches.  I'm a baby when it comes to snow, so I left work about an hour before they shut the office.  I skidded 6 times, ran a red light at a MASSIVE intersection, and the person behind me spun out and had a wreck. But I made it.  By the time the office closed it was too late to get out, and most of my co-workers slept there last night.

Turns out my MIL tried to make it home last night after she found that office building.... she finally arrived this morning around 9 am... 18 hours after she left work yesterday.  Most of ATL is still a parking lot.  It's hard to imagine how a little snow can have such an impact, but with no winter equipment and hundreds of miles of (hilly) roads in the ATL area it doesn't take much.  And it's not like the people down here drive in it on a regular basis.  Nor do most of us have 4WD or chains or anything.

I read an article saying police had investigated 940 wrecks in Atlanta as of about 7 am this morning.  It's mind-boggling.

Our office got shut today too, and possibly part of tomorrow morning until the roads clear.  I've had a whopping 7 business days of work at this new job, and 2 have been snow days!  It's crazy.

IAmSherlocked

Oh man, that is so scary! I'm glad you were able to get out of the office and arrive home safely. 

I'm glad your MIL got home ok too. I've been watching the news and there are tons of stories of people who are stuck or who stayed the night at convenience stores because they couldn't get home. Even with 4-wheel drive my DH got stuck, so I can't imagine driving in this weather in a small car (like most everyone has around here). 

I read that same statistic about the amount of wrecks. I heard that the national guard is doing all they can but they have very limited resources so they can only do so much. At least a little bit of progress has been made, and they've at least gotten a little bit of sand/salt put down on some of the roads. 

That's crazy about your new job hoffse. I'm half tempted to go spend my snow day making snow angels and playing in the snow like I did when I was little. Somehow snow days aren't as much fun when you're a grown-up.

jessica490

orangehills said:

I've been reading about that, so crazy!! I hope everyone is able to make it home and keep safe!! It's so bizarre too, because where I live in Northern CA we are having a massive drought and it's not getting colder than like 60 during the day. Such a weird winter!!

Haha, boy I wish I had that problem!

lifeonthehill

Being from Maine this always kind of baffles me. We had a family visiting the school today talking about how excited they were to be here and out of the weather down that way. I kinda laughed and said we got 2 inches last night.
I feel badly that this happens for you guys. I understand being ill prepared for it as a city but the worst is the poor people who never learn to drive in those conditions and get blindsided by it.
I hope everyone is safe and is able to just stay home until the mess is figured out!

vlagrl29

We are in the Midwest and got dumped with 12 inches of snow 2 weeks in a row last Feb.  that's how much snow it takes to shut our city down.  2 inches is nothing, but I understand where you are coming from being in the south where this never happens.  My first H was from Atlanta and would tell me that even 1 inch of snow would shut the city down.  Ya'll are making me jealous.  I'm hoping we get a snow blast soon!  I'm a weirdo that likes being shut down in the house so I can just relax. 

Sisugal

Be safe everyone.
This situation can be a reminder for everyone to have a safety/survival kit in your car as well as at home.  Stuff happens.

Xstatic3333

vlagrl29 said:

We are in the Midwest and got dumped with 12 inches of snow 2 weeks in a row last Feb.  that's how much snow it takes to shut our city down.  2 inches is nothing, but I understand where you are coming from being in the south where this never happens.  My first H was from Atlanta and would tell me that even 1 inch of snow would shut the city down.  Ya'll are making me jealous.  I'm hoping we get a snow blast soon!  I'm a weirdo that likes being shut down in the house so I can just relax. 

Not weird. I LOVE being snowed in! That said, I learned to drive in the snow and ice, and I really do feel for everyone down south right now who is struggling and hasn't had that experience.

hoffse

Yeah, it's hard to learn to drive in it when it hardly ever happens!  Last year Birmingham had one day all winter where it snowed and sort of stuck - and that melted within a few hours.  The vast majority of our snow is just flurries.

We all do 95 degrees with 80%+ humidity just fine.  But show us a snowflake, and we all flip out.

The problem of course is that if you don't know how to drive in snow, then it can be really dangerous to try.  And put hundreds (thousands) of inexperienced drivers on the road in those conditions at the same time, and it's a recipe for disaster.

brij2006

Xstatic3333 said:

We are in the Midwest and got dumped with 12 inches of snow 2 weeks in a row last Feb.  that's how much snow it takes to shut our city down.  2 inches is nothing, but I understand where you are coming from being in the south where this never happens.  My first H was from Atlanta and would tell me that even 1 inch of snow would shut the city down.  Ya'll are making me jealous.  I'm hoping we get a snow blast soon!  I'm a weirdo that likes being shut down in the house so I can just relax. 

Not weird. I LOVE being snowed in! That said, I learned to drive in the snow and ice, and I really do feel for everyone down south right now who is struggling and hasn't had that experience.

I agree with this.  The only time I actually sit and relax is when I have to be trapped inside, and that's only on the occasional snow days.  The last time we got shut down was 2 years ago when we had 18 inches of snow. This year we've only gotten off a little early because of it being -40 and blizzard like conditions outside.

vlagrl29

The little bit of snow we have had this year is 4 inches....that's nothing!  I love blizzards  I also choose not to drive at all when snow is forecasted for that day.  I do hate driving in snow.

tigerfighter

Stay safe and stay warm.  

Mom987

I live in Kennesaw, work in Marietta (both north of Atlanta). Took me 5 hours to get to the kids (12pm-5pm) but had to stay with friends instead of getting home. DH was over 20 miles away at another friend's home. People were stranded on the highway and other roads, walking, sleeping in cars, schools, grocery stores, etc. We didn't get home as a family of 4 until today at 5pm. Someone had parked in our front yard and walked last night, the car is still there. There were at least 12 abandoned cars just on my last few miles of my commute. Thankful to be home.

Mom987

The whole state of Georgia was trying to go home at noon. Wrecks were starting to happen as people were leaving work early and schools were closing early. The snow didn't even start until like 10 and stick around 11:30. Then chaos from 12pm on.

Mom987

Nobody understands unless you're there. I can't stand when people say 2 inches is nothing.

HoneyBee973

Be safe everyone!

Xstatic3333

Mom987 said:

I live in Kennesaw, work in Marietta (both north of Atlanta). Took me 5 hours to get to the kids (12pm-5pm) but had to stay with friends instead of getting home. DH was over 20 miles away at another friend's home. People were stranded on the highway and other roads, walking, sleeping in cars, schools, grocery stores, etc. We didn't get home as a family of 4 until today at 5pm. Someone had parked in our front yard and walked last night, the car is still there. There were at least 12 abandoned cars just on my last few miles of my commute. Thankful to be home.

Glad you and your family were safe, but so sorry you had to go through all that!

Something similar happened in Boston a few years back-though not as extreme since Boston has plows, salt, etc. at the ready. Most businesses all let their nonessential employees out at lunchtime, and gridlock resulted. Kids were stuck on buses or at school for hours, cars were abandoned, etc. My 45 min commute became 7 hours. I can see how it would easily become an overnight situation in a town where snow is not common :-(

ETA Accidental inappropriate emoticon

Mom987

GA is in a state of emergency until noon Thursday. I'm not working til Friday or Monday.

Wulfgar

I have lived in the South and remember going to the Oklahoma City airport to catch a plane to go on vacation in the middle of a snow storm.  I was doing 65 mph on the interstate and the few people who were on the road where all doing under 40 mph.  I think it was during that same winter that Oklahoma got 4 inches of ice and the cold weather stayed for a whole week so driving back roads was dangerous.

I understand why southerners can't drive on the stuff because in a lot of the areas they get it one day and it is melted off the next.

Mom987

Here's an amazing summary of how it happened yesterday and the ongoing support from total strangers:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kimberlyt/the-silver-lining-of-atlantas-snowpocalypse-2014-w6l?s=mobile

Mom987

Xstatic3333 said:

Mom987 said:

I live in Kennesaw, work in Marietta (both north of Atlanta). Took me 5 hours to get to the kids (12pm-5pm) but had to stay with friends instead of getting home. DH was over 20 miles away at another friend's home. People were stranded on the highway and other roads, walking, sleeping in cars, schools, grocery stores, etc. We didn't get home as a family of 4 until today at 5pm. Someone had parked in our front yard and walked last night, the car is still there. There were at least 12 abandoned cars just on my last few miles of my commute. Thankful to be home.

Glad you and your family were safe, but so sorry you had to go through all that!

Something similar happened in Boston a few years back-though not as extreme since Boston has plows, salt, etc. at the ready. Most businesses all let their nonessential employees out at lunchtime, and gridlock resulted. Kids were stuck on buses or at school for hours, cars were abandoned, etc. My 45 min commute became 7 hours. I can see how it would easily become an overnight situation in a town where snow is not common :-(

ETA Accidental inappropriate emoticon

Thank you, Xstatic3333. It is surreal!

Xstatic3333

Mom987 said:

Here's an amazing summary of how it happened yesterday and the ongoing support from total strangers:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kimberlyt/the-silver-lining-of-atlantas-snowpocalypse-2014-w6l?s=mobile

Wow, that's very cool. You really do see the good in people at times like that.

hoffse

Mom987 said:

Here's an amazing summary of how it happened yesterday and the ongoing support from total strangers: http://www.buzzfeed.com/kimberlyt/the-silver-lining-of-atlantas-snowpocalypse-2014-w6l?s=mobile

Southern hospitality at its best.  It's definitely a real thing.

The chick-fil-a just down the street from my apartment handed out hundreds of free sandwiches to stranded people yesterday.  The employees were trapped too, and they decided they might as well feed people.  They cooked until they literally ran out of food.