It can't be that bad... (a post by Leah)

It can't be that bad.  That's what I thought whenever I heard stories of driving in Atlanta in the snow.  I've driven in plenty of winter storms.  I've lived places where they don't salt the roads.  I've lived where a 6 inch snow storm is considered a "dusting" of snow.  I've driven rear-wheel drive cars on ice.  I've driven when the only way you can tell if you are on the road is to drive between the power lines.  Two inches of snow?  No problem.

It can't be that bad.  That’s what everyone said about the roads on Tuesday as we dismissed schools 2 hours early.  That is what many people up north have said and are thinking about our snow this week.

It can't be that bad.  It’s not.  It’s worse.  Many people were stranded in their cars in the middle of gridlocked interstates or side streets for over 12 hours.  Some people as many as 21 hours or longer.  Cars ran out of gas.  Hundreds of semi-trucks jackknifed on the interstates. Cars and trucks were parked on the islands and medians of the side streets. People abandoned their cars and began walking down the roads, interstates and exit ramps.  Other drivers were left to maneuver around the stalled and abandoned vehicles.  Children were stuck on school busses, and eventually returned to schools when neighborhoods were impassable.  1500 children spent the night at their schools because they couldn’t get home.  People spent the night in their cars, in hotel lobbies, gas stations and Home Depots.  Some even camped out at a local McDonald’s.  More than 24 hours after the storm began, students were still in schools, and cars were still making the treacherous drive home.

It can't be that bad.  Two inches of snow?  No, it was ice.  When 4 million people all leave work to drive as many as 20 miles, they pack down the snow.  Without the necessary salt to keep the roads clear and with temperatures plummeting to 10 degrees overnight, it turned to ice, almost immediately.

It can't be that bad.  My drive home was not too eventful.  The normal 5 mile, 10 minute drive turned into a 2 hour drive.  I spent much of the drive, parked on a 4 lane road, watching children a few cars ahead, play in the snow beside the street.  All because many drivers couldn't drive up a small hill that is only a half mile from my home.  So, neighbors would push cars up, one at a time.  I saw three different cars abandoned on that road, alone.  All of them, including a small FedEx truck, abandoned only an hour or two after the snow began to stick. 

It can't be that bad.  Rob’s drive was much longer, 15 miles and 6.5 hours, and more entertaining.  He drove much of the time on side streets to avoid the grid-locked interstates, only to discover that every side street had the same story as the interstates.  Traffic was at a standstill.  He watched every car spin their tires on the slick, icy roads.  One driver had even spun his tires so much that they were smoking.  At another point, he watched a Jeep push cars, bumper to bumper, up a slight incline that was difficult to traverse in the ice.  At another point, traveling downhill, all he heard for 30 minutes was the high-pitched brakes, as tires squealed on the icy roads.  When he made it back to the interstate (after a phone call home to find out where the roads were the worst), he said there were abandoned cars everywhere, some even turned the wrong direction down the interstate.  He saw dozens of people walking miles down the interstate to make it home.  He described it as an “eerie” sight.   

It can't be that bad.  Maybe it’s shouldn't have been, but it was.