Please realize that southern states don't have the snow/ice removal equipment or budget that our northern neighbors have. It wouldn't be cost effective to buy equipment/supplies for something that rarely happens.
Also, our houses are not insulated to withstand really cold temperatures likes houses up north are. Again, it's because extremely low temperatures are such a rarity. Along the same line, our heating systems aren't designed to be able to keep up when it gets really cold. Many houses in the south have heat pumps, which become inefective below 40 degrees. We've been getting temperatures much colder than that this past week (in the teens in my area, south of ATL), with no end in sight for the near future. For this reason, we had gas heat installed when we had our current house built, even though it's more expensive. We've lived in a house with a heat pump before - awful!!
Yes, my dogs have short hair, they're thinned skinned breeds, and they aren't used to the extreme cold. I put light sweaters on them at night when I lower the heater. They like going outside, but they don't want to stay out too long.
I HATE the cold. Come on Spring!!
