Alabama/Atlanta Snowpocalypse: When meteorology goes terribly wrong

A storm story that will restore your faith in humanity: A Birmingham doctor walked 6 miles to perform emergency brain surgery on Wednesday:

http://blog.al.com/wire/2014/01/doctor_walks_six_miles_in_snow.html

A storm story that will confirm your cynicism about human nature: The city of Leeds (best known as Charles Barkley's hometown) towed abandoned vehicles at the owners' expense:

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2014/01/cars_left_abandoned_on_surface.html#incart_river_default

 

Rhody keeps espousing the "don't drive fast" thing. But no one was driving fast. When I left work at 12:30, the two miles I spent on the interstate, everyone was doing 20 and leaving three car lengths. I was impressed, because Atlanta drivers are SHIT.

But right before I exited for surface streets, I could see the backup ahead. And trust me when I tell you, you don't spend 20 hours in your car because people are moving. People ran out of gas because they didn't have 20 hours worth of gas in their 14 gallons. They abandoned their cars because they hadn't moved in hours.

Very very very few of the problems were from at-speed collisions. If any. I wish I could have driven fast, and it only took me two hours to go 12 miles. I was pissed when I got home, until I kept watching the news. My friend's wife got home at 11 a.m. today. She left at noon yesterday from her job, which is about a 45-60 minute drive on a regular day. 23 hours away from her family, about 15 of them spent in her car.

 

I'm counting on Mr. Groundhog to bring an early end to this mess.

This winter has sucked.

 

... so I hate you.

 

The pussification of the South continues.

 

SEC! SEC! SEC!

 

Our schools opted for early dismissal yesterday, which meant both kids were home before the snow started. After watching Atlanta, it seems like a brilliant decision, even though we only got an inch.

lono worked until about 8:00, and got home two hours later. No trouble on the Interstate, no trouble on the US highway you hit after the Interstate. Those both have traffic 24/7. The local road he turned onto from the US highway? It's on a hill, so it combines an incline and curves, and most folks drove home in daylight. That one inch of snow they'd melted had long since iced over. He waited while police and wreckers cleared cars already off the road, then slowly made it home. If he'd used common Rhode Island sense, he would have just apparated.

 

76 in Key West tomorrow. One flight away.

 

On one of the network news shows last night, a reporter in Atlanta said that the problems were just like those of the last ice storm -- in 2011! This means government agencies and private organizations learned exactly zero from their last disaster all of two winters ago. My sympathy for the city declined.

 

Easy to say get a few salt trucks and just take care of it. Then you remember that 75/85 is six lanes in either direction. And there's 285. And 20. And those all pass through different counties. And they're just the interstates. Which people don't actually live on. And the trucks have to be able to get there. And go back to get more salt. And then get back to where they were before. Before what they just salted melts and freezes over again.

Among the other problems was that no matter how carefully you drive, tractor-trailers can't get traction on ice when there's a slight incline.

 

Saw the mayor of Atlanta give a press conference, he's a total fucktard. Refuses to accept any responsibility, any.total asshole

 

Sounds like you need to be reminded of the levelheadedness, grace and quiet dignity with which the Northeast handled that earthquake a few years ago.