Stuck on I20 EB 14 hours, still sitting.

Hiking Hunter wrote:

edatlanta wrote:
What an idiot he is.

Ed, why is the governor an idiot?

For causing the bad weather? ...no.

I agree he is not at fault here.

For totally blowing the forecast? ... no.

I agree with you here. The weather forecasters don't get it right most of the time either.

For saying what he did about having people who can help? ... no, because ALDOT and the Division of Public Safety do have people who can help. In fact, in the larger cities they have road patrols for public assistance.

This is where we do disagree. All he succeeded in doing is overloading the various 911 centers with calls that there were no resources to help. And where the resources were available they couldn't get to the person calling for one of several reasons. The 911 centers were so backed up that the call wasn't answered promptly and/or the traffic jams were so bad the emergency vehicles couldn't get there. I have first person experience with one 911 center in the Birmingham area. During a normal day they take 300-400 calls. In one 12 hour period after the governor's comment the took 1,500 calls. Most of these were I'm stuck. Who is going to help?

What he should have said was we know there are those stuck on the interstates, etc. We are working at fast as possible to get you out where you can move again. This would not give false hope to those stuck and would keep 911 centers more able to take calls from the true emergencies. Being stuck on an interstate is not an emergency all the time. I am also aware of the road patrols in larger areas. Keep in mind these couldn't help in a lot of cases due to ice and also major traffic jams. Where are they going to drive and what will the do when and if they get to the person that called.

So, Im curious as to why you think he is an idiot?

Answered above. He could have thought out his answer before he spoke.

georgelesley wrote:
I know people always get mad in the south when it snows and blame the hwy dept and each other for not dealing with it properly. No doubt some of that anger is deserved. But the other side of that is when it snows in the deep south it is the near freezing temp greasy stuff, especially treacherous for the unprepared and inexperienced. So far we have had 97" of snow here this winter. But even we do not like the "greasy" snow that falls with temps in the 20's. Give me the snow that falls when the temp is 0 or below anytime.

It sounds crazy I know, but the snow that falls when it is that cold is dry and not very slippery. Most of us carry basic survival gear during the winter, something people in the south are not used to. I feel sorry for the south this year. Good luck to all.

X2 to this statement, here in the NW we get both types, and for highly inexperienced, and the nasty warm wet snow that turns to ice almost as soon as it hits the ground, is impossible to drive in, this is where us in the NW have either winter tires, studded tires (bad for roads) or cable chains.

The issue may not be the weather itself, but the logistics. Houston managed to achieve a similar gridlock just before Hurricane Rita actually turned and went a different direction. Weather itself was never the problem. 2 million people on the road was the problem. At least when the next hurricane came through, they staggered the evacuation by zone. Not sure it worked, but at least they tried.

We seemed to learn our lesson, however. During the icy weather here this past week, most school districts closed (which gets a lot of people off the road right there), and many major businesses closed.

So sorry you had to go through all that Halmfamily. I know it must have been miserable.

Try NOAA,NWS input your area code. I find them the most accurate for weather. If you're really into weather, you can read through the forecast discussions, it is the same information that is used by the media broadcasters (less the spin).

Yes, not really comparable from an ice/snow event South of Indiana to a Winter storm in the upper Midwest or West. I was stuck on the Interstate in KY, one Winter, transporting a sailboat back from NC. Had to wait for the highway sander to spread sand under my wheels. In Indianapolis there was 6" of ice at the filling stations. I laid over in Indiana for a couple of days, they just don't have the equipment to deal with a major event.

It does seem probable, though, that forecasters could have narrowed the time of impact more closely. It's not like they couldn't see the Polar onslaught coming.

wildernesshd wrote:
Prepairing Louisiana for a snow storm is like prepairing montana for a hurricane.

Sums it up pretty well.

Prepairing Louisiana for a snow storm is like prepairing montana for a hurricane.

Forecasting is a problem. Yes this time some of the TV guys said it would snow around Chattanooga, but none said we would get this much. NWS said it would not come this far north. Then there the times they say it will, but doesn't. Of course that doesn't make CNN news.
TDOT ALDOT GDOT... they just don't have the equipment that is really needed. And it would sit idle most of the time.
We also most times get the wet slush for snow, then it melts and we get black ice. No one has snow tires or chains, again why spend the money on something you might use once every 2-3 years. And you would have to order it because none of the stores keep them in stock. Even the 4X4's have either mud tires that are far more useful year round, or street tires because they never leave the pavement on purpose. When it snows were just up the creek till it warms up, in about 2-3 days

Veebyes wrote:
What am I missing?

In general the system and low temps arrived several hours early. Yes, it did hit fast and unexpected.

People came in during the work day when everyone opened as normal with nice weather.

Atlanta basically dismissed everyone onto the roads at noon - leading to a more than double normal traffic load.

Schools opened across Alabama and Georgia expecting to get at least a half-day in before the weather hit.

Some kids are still trapped in schools in Alabama for a second night.

A few hundred thousand people expected to be able to get home from work or shopping before the cold really hit - and were not dressed appropriately.

No one has snow tires, the best the highway departments can do is some sand, and once the freeze, light thaw, refreeze cycle starts - they need heavy equipment to break up the ice and scrape it off the roads - after all the stranded vehicles have been towed away.

This ice coating that refreezes every few hours is completely different from what folks see in places with real winter. Places where people have snow tires, chains, and plenty of practice driving in this stuff.

That area hasn't been hit with an ice storm like this for several years.

Part of the problem is the near constant series of warnings about a major storm - the potentially disastrous impact - only to have nothing over a light snow develop that melts away in hours.

TWC, and other forecasters, cry wolf very often - and people tend to get complacent when the disaster doesn't happen.

Then when the wolf really shows up .....

What am I missing? Weather forcasting may not be perfect but it is pretty good these days. You don't leave it to the last minute to go get something you might need. People who work in those stores have to get home too. You don't go out for any reason unless it is life threatening. If you can't use the roads how can the first responders be expected to come save you?

I live where I have to deal with hurricanes. Being prepared before the weather turns bad saves lives. I see all these people stuck on the roads. Surely this snow & ice did not hit them like a fast moving tornado. Weather forcasters were predicting it at least 24 hours in advance.

Handbasket wrote:


Thank you, sir! That is exactly what many folks from up north just don't understand. Here in the southern mountains, we not only have that kind of freezy skid stuff to deal with, we also have hills, blind curves, and heavily shaded spots to complicate matters.

I had a rather prolonged...errr, 'discussion' with a northerner on the B forum a few years ago... he'd 'never been stuck' in the winter in a RWD B van without chains, and thought all my suggested preparations absurd. Of course, he apparently lived in the Canadian flatlands.

Jim, "Manure occureth."

Your "southern mountains" describe what it is like up north where I live. In fact, I know many places in NY, Pa, Mass, Vt, NH, and Maine that fit "hills, blind curves, and heavily shaded spots". I don't think I have seen bare pavement in two weeks now, but everybody is driving on the snow covered ice, and generally speaking, doing quite well at it. But many of us run snow tires all the way around on two wheel drive cars. In my book, that is better than 4 wheel drive! Stuck??? Not in years, and I live in the snow belt south of Buffalo, NY. And yes, I have driven in some of your southern snow and ice storms when the locals could not do it. Went through one way back in the '70s in Atlantic that was very similiar to what just hit there.

But I will admit, we do have lots of plow and salt trucks that are big enough to handle the work that needs to be done. And our local and state governments contract with lots of big salt companies to purchase highway rock salt, we have huge piles of the stuff. The average highway department plow truck run is 40 miles, and the drivers do it over and over again for about 15 hours a day, and then another shift comes on to continue plowing the same 40 miles of road. We just know how to deal with the stuff! And I don't expect you to, cause you don't have it happen that often.