snow > Atlanta
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed also weighed in. He laid part of the blame on local businesses, saying they contributed to the gridlock by letting workers leave at the same time.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said the region was caught off guard by weather predictions.
Yvonne Williams, who works on transportation infrastructure projects in Atlanta, said there needed to be a community-wide coalition of first responders ready to take this on.
Many Atlantans say there needs to be more mass transit and roads.
Edited By Malcolm on 1391026235
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
I used to live in a snowy climate and drive in it and shovel it and even walk to work uphill (both ways) in it and all that stuff. I know snow. I miss snow.
I now live in a place that never gets ice and snow.
They just aren't prepared for it because it never happens. They don't have the equipment or the knowledge to handle it. Additionally down here in the south a very high percentage of our urban roads are elevated, which means more snow and ice coverage instead of melting on the still-above-freezing ground. In the 30 miles I drive to work about 22 miles of it is elevated roadway, and that's pretty typical. Additionally the ice that forms under these conditions is more nasty than driving in snow. You can't see it at all, but you are driving along fine on regular clear concrete and suddenly you are on a two-inch thick sheet of slick ice with no visual warning. Most people down here don't know how to deal with that. So some of the confusion and over-caution is justified.
I imagine y'all would be about as good with knowing what to do if land-locked Ohio was suddenly hit with a coastal hurricane storm surge. Are you prepared for that? No, of course not.
That having all been said, it is pretty funny to watch them squirm. Well, until you see one of your neighbors carted off because she froze to death in 30 degree weather. But she was really really old and poor, so it's not too surprising; they tend to drop like flies those rare time when it gets cold down here.
I now live in a place that never gets ice and snow.
They just aren't prepared for it because it never happens. They don't have the equipment or the knowledge to handle it. Additionally down here in the south a very high percentage of our urban roads are elevated, which means more snow and ice coverage instead of melting on the still-above-freezing ground. In the 30 miles I drive to work about 22 miles of it is elevated roadway, and that's pretty typical. Additionally the ice that forms under these conditions is more nasty than driving in snow. You can't see it at all, but you are driving along fine on regular clear concrete and suddenly you are on a two-inch thick sheet of slick ice with no visual warning. Most people down here don't know how to deal with that. So some of the confusion and over-caution is justified.
I imagine y'all would be about as good with knowing what to do if land-locked Ohio was suddenly hit with a coastal hurricane storm surge. Are you prepared for that? No, of course not.
That having all been said, it is pretty funny to watch them squirm. Well, until you see one of your neighbors carted off because she froze to death in 30 degree weather. But she was really really old and poor, so it's not too surprising; they tend to drop like flies those rare time when it gets cold down here.
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Heh.
It's not the snow, though. It's the ice.
The secret there is don't try to turn at all. Straight lines until you clear the bridge/overpass/elevated road. If the road is curved, go slow enough that you stop before you reach the edge. Get out and get into another car pointing the right way.
It's not the snow, though. It's the ice.
The secret there is don't try to turn at all. Straight lines until you clear the bridge/overpass/elevated road. If the road is curved, go slow enough that you stop before you reach the edge. Get out and get into another car pointing the right way.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
I've watched cars crashing uncontrollably on black ice at two miles an hour. Sure the damage is minimal, but they still aren't able to stop running into things and get turned the proper direction on the ice.
Is there a speed slow enough to drive properly on black ice without the proper winter tires? Even I've had to get out and physically push the front end of my car around to get it pointed in the right direction on a couple of black-iced road occasions, and I've had years of snow-driving experience.
Besides, it's not the steering or stopping that's the real danger, it's the flyovers. You start sliding backwards at the top of one of those it doesn't matter what you do, you'll be going 50+ by the time you hit bottom if you haven't hit the sides or other cars first. We had a tanker flip over the railing and fall off onto the road bed below doing that last Friday, made a real mess of the interstate.
Is there a speed slow enough to drive properly on black ice without the proper winter tires? Even I've had to get out and physically push the front end of my car around to get it pointed in the right direction on a couple of black-iced road occasions, and I've had years of snow-driving experience.
Besides, it's not the steering or stopping that's the real danger, it's the flyovers. You start sliding backwards at the top of one of those it doesn't matter what you do, you'll be going 50+ by the time you hit bottom if you haven't hit the sides or other cars first. We had a tanker flip over the railing and fall off onto the road bed below doing that last Friday, made a real mess of the interstate.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
It occurs to me to ask if you even get iced roads up there. Where I was living before that had snow on the ground from October to May we never got iced roads, because we were getting snow. Once there's snow on it, it won't ice like that.
This isn't snow, which is textured and drivable with skill and practice. This isn't sleet or slush, which still has some grip. This is pure ice - fallen as rain and frozen in place - sometimes inches thick and so crystal clear as to be completely invisible. Until someone comes through and puts some sand/salt/gravel/etc on it, it's just not drivable at any speed with regular road tires.
EDIT - That reminds me of the time when I was a kid living in Nacogdoches when we had a really crazy winter. There was nearly six inches of ice on some of the roads for about a week. It was really cold for long enough to freeze the ground, then it hovered right at 32 degrees and started to rain and freeze up and just keep building up more and more clear slick ice on everything. Not just the bridges but the regular roads as well, which is very rare for that part of the country. We had some neighbors living downhill next to the creek that couldn't get out for food. Not just couldn't drive out, but didn't have the gear to walk up that iced hill, either. We tried to slide some canned food down to them but the first one picked up so much speed it exploded and knocked loose some bricks when it hit the side of the house. We had to go find a rope to lower them down the hill more carefully in a box instead.
Never seen ice quite like that again. Completely clear all the way through, and so slick you couldn't put anything on it unless it was completely flat or it would start sliding away.
Edited By TPRJones on 1391035133
This isn't snow, which is textured and drivable with skill and practice. This isn't sleet or slush, which still has some grip. This is pure ice - fallen as rain and frozen in place - sometimes inches thick and so crystal clear as to be completely invisible. Until someone comes through and puts some sand/salt/gravel/etc on it, it's just not drivable at any speed with regular road tires.
EDIT - That reminds me of the time when I was a kid living in Nacogdoches when we had a really crazy winter. There was nearly six inches of ice on some of the roads for about a week. It was really cold for long enough to freeze the ground, then it hovered right at 32 degrees and started to rain and freeze up and just keep building up more and more clear slick ice on everything. Not just the bridges but the regular roads as well, which is very rare for that part of the country. We had some neighbors living downhill next to the creek that couldn't get out for food. Not just couldn't drive out, but didn't have the gear to walk up that iced hill, either. We tried to slide some canned food down to them but the first one picked up so much speed it exploded and knocked loose some bricks when it hit the side of the house. We had to go find a rope to lower them down the hill more carefully in a box instead.
Never seen ice quite like that again. Completely clear all the way through, and so slick you couldn't put anything on it unless it was completely flat or it would start sliding away.
Edited By TPRJones on 1391035133
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
I dunno. I got it from here and they said Atlanta.
If I Google "Atlanta skyline" I see the building with the golden/pointy top, so the bottom pic is Atlanta.
The Walking Dead pic is probably a different freeway from a different direction, so it shows a different part of the city.
If I Google "Atlanta skyline" I see the building with the golden/pointy top, so the bottom pic is Atlanta.
The Walking Dead pic is probably a different freeway from a different direction, so it shows a different part of the city.