Posted on 01/30/2014 11:12:17 AM PST by Kartographer
It’s likely not the birthday celebration James Freeman wished for.
The Rome, Ga., resident spent Tuesday — his 31st birthday — slogging across 72 miles of icy metro-Atlanta roads for 12 hours after leaving Norcross at 2:30 p.m.
“Some called it ‘Snowpocalypse,’ others ‘Snowmageddon.’ I called it my birthday,” Freeman shared in a first-person account he wrote for Yahoo News on Thursday.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I’m in Atlanta. THE fatal flaw was that when the NWS issued a Winter Storm Warning at 3:38 am Tuesday morning all schools should have been closed. Period. Instead EVERYONE completely ignored the storm warning. I went to work. Wife and kids went to school. Everyone was open. Nobody heeded the storm warning.
The emergency plan calls for the interstates to be the responsibility of the state of Georgia.
The City of Atlanta and other municipalities are responsible for the surface streets.
The problem was that the snow melted and froze on the roads in less than 2 hours from when it started. The roads were primarily a layer of ice with snow on top of it.
Notice, Katrina didn't devastate NO but he system of locks that are under the purview of NO and various state officials, weren't prepared for continuous rain that accompanied Katrina but the lax and bordering on criminal behavior by Mayor Nagin, caused deaths of scores of people!!!
Mayor Nasim (sp) of Atlanta proclaiming that "roads had been treated" was obviously untrue!
I look at this as mass stupidity. Yes all of them should have known to stay home or stay where they were and off the roads. Those who are blaming the city or state are looking for a scapegoat for their own stupidity.
I have lived in atlanta since college, 1991. Since then there have been 2 major (for us) snow storms and 3-5 minor ones. I count this as a minor one.
Around 1996 2 inches of snow fell during afternoon rush hour in early December (the way I remember it). It took me 4 hours to go 3 miles.
I have never been on the road here during snow since then. I saw the forecasts and worked from home Tuesday. My CEO called and laughed at my worry over traffic around 10am. I can’t wait to hear about his commute after a lunch meeting in midtown.
3 years ago the city shut down for a week because of snow and ice. I learned a new lesson then. Shovel the driveway before the slush sets and keep tire chains handy just in case.
This is a once every 5 year event. Kids get to play and stay home from school. It’s like an I scheduled vacation. Maybe a whole new generation of Atlantans will learn to beat the snow home.
Yes ice is the worst. We had about 15 inches of snow the other day and it took me 3 hours to get home. It usually takes 45 mins or so. I would rather have tons of snow than ice!
There was someone posting yesterday who didn’t understand shoveling snow before it hardened. Or putting down salt. People, on some level, need to know how to help themselves.
You don't have to get this particular pack, but let it encourage you to get one of your choice that would have enough gear so you will survive (this description is from the company:
Life Gear's Wings of Life survival backpack provides the ultimate in survival preparedness. It is a complete three day survival kit with food, water and essential survival gear. The food and water have a shelf life of five years, and can withstand a temperature range of -40 to +120 degrees F. Detachable wings of life help keep things organized, accessible and easy to find in stressful situations.
Life Gear Wings of Life Survival Backpack
Features:
Sleeve system for storage of food and water
Waterproof tarp
Cell phone/walkie talkie carrying case
Water reservoir pocket
Multifunction tool sleeve
Cushioned shoulder straps
Lightweight ergonomic design for children and adults
Back ventilation system for cool air flow
See-through pockets for quick access to items
Ring hooks for added attachments
Two side pockets for storage of a personal safety device and bottle
Durable construction for long life
Backpack includes:
Thermal blanket
All weather poncho
Hygiene kit
First aid kit
Multifunction tool
Leather work gloves
Respirator mask
Compass
Signaling whistle
Thermometer
Red emergency flasher
Waterproof document/cash bag
Signaling mirror
Writing pad & pen
6-page disaster preparedness action guide
Emergency food rations:
Made in USA
Meets US Coast Guard standards (160.046/23/0)
Meets Department of Defense regulations (SOLAS 74/83)
5-year shelf life
Non-thirst provoking
Withstand temperatures of -40 to 300 degrees F
Ready to eat: each package contains 9 pre-measured 400 calorie meals
Individual portions eliminate messy breakup
Contains no cholesterol or tropical oils
Enriched with vitamins and minerals, exceeding RDA requirements
Emergency water packets:
Made in USA
US Coast Guard approved
No oxygen transfer (no chance of bacterial contamination)
Pre-measured packets make water easy to dispense
Easy to transport; no cups needed
Withstand temperatures from -40 to 210 degrees F
5-year shelf life
Model No. LGDLBPK01
Shipping Weight (in pounds): 10.2
Product in Inches (L x W x H): 13.0 x 6.0 x 19.0
As this is written, Atlanta is still in the throes of another winter weather situation. The TV is filled with images of major highways littered with abandoned vehicles. Many of their owners are stranded in make-shift shelters until warmer weather makes the roads passable again.
The governor and other officials just concluded a news conference to explain how the mess unfolded and that they’ve learned much from this experience.
One of the lessons they “learned” is that, once the potential severity of this event became obvious, dismissing public and private employees all at once to try to get home was a really bad idea as it is many of their abandoned vehicles now clogging the roads, making it impossible for the salt and sand trucks to do their thing.
How unfortunate that so many of these state officials and private business management folks seem to be slow learners. We’ve had a number of these events in years past and the result is the same: Hundreds of thousands of gallons of expensive fuel burned, multiple thousands of people stranded, some folks even dying in accidents or from exposure, etc.
There IS a sensible solution for at least SOME of these folks and the problems they faced, a solution that could also seriously curtail the massive and growing year round Atlanta traffic rush hour gridlock and, just incidentally, conserve that precious fuel and reduce the CO2 and other emissions the Algore and the other “climate change” charlatans insist causes “global warming” (despite growing evidence that they’re nuts).
In the 60s and 70s, Tom Peters, an American writer on business management practices, wrote and spoke extensively on what he called the “Electronic Cottage.” It was a very sensible proposal made possible by the coming of age of the electronic revolution.
In a nutshell, his proposal, even MORE sensible now that the electronic revolution has had 50 years to mature, is that, unless a worker’s occupation absolutely required that he leave his home each day to drive to where he performs his duties, the need for him to do so was becoming unnecessary. If he or she was one of the growing number of INFORMATION workers from whom an employer needed mainly or only an INFORMATION WORK PRODUCT, that product could just as easily be created in an “electronic cottage” in some small portion of his or her home.
If I have to explain the societal benefits of that, please stop reading now as you may be one of Obama’s no/low information folks and wouldn’t grasp how it would save vast amounts of valuable energy resources and human time as folks no longer would need to sit in stop and go rush hours breathing noxious fumes for several hours each day. If you are one of those whose job requires you to navigate a rush hour twice a day, try to imagine how YOUR rush hour experience might improve with half or more of the vehicles removed from the highways?
Speaking of noxious fumes, I sincerely believe that these big city rush hours and those noxious fumes are damaging our brains, exacerbating the dumbing down begun in the government schools to the point where 47% or so of us actually believed the BS laid down my Obama and put an unvetted, unqualified, Marxist community organizer in office – TWICE – and still haven’t noticed that his every act is designed to destroy America.
(I’m tempted to raise the issue of school busing but that’s a topic for another rant.)
There is another reason why Peters’ common sense proposal has not gained more traction. That is the ego driven flaw that dictates that the corporate guy who makes it up the food chain to a corner office feels the need to be able to periodically stroll from that office and gaze around at a mass of cubicle enclosed fellow humans and know that they are “his” people. Their absence from his sight would cause him to feel less important and secure.
And, speaking of security, it COULD come to pass that those above him in that food chain might begin to question just why HE is in that corner office. Can’t have that sort of thing now, can we, lest it ripple up and down the entire food chain.
So, while I don’t hold out much hope that the electronic cottage with all its many benefits will get any serious consideration, it is possible that coming events here might force it upon us.
Group 1 (The Rugged Outdoors-men) - Those who scoff at the Southern city-slickers who are unaccustomed to winter weather. They are sure to mention that a foot of snow is "late October" to them and you will hear them speak about how they go out in zero degree weather in their shorts and sandals and rub their bellies with snow because you know, zero degrees is a "heat wave" for them, and they need to cool themselves down. They will hasten to add that when they were growing up, the schools never closed and they would have to tunnel their way to their second grade classroom under 10 foot drifts - at least three miles - so thankfully they had compasses in their pockets to guide their way.
Group 2 (The Preppers) - This group is sure to scold the same Southern city-slickers for not outfitting their cars with studded Blizzak snow tires and keeping Arctic sleeping bags in their trunks. The fact that it only snows in their area once every five years will be no excuse. They will be sure to mention that they never travel anywhere without a 30-day supply of canned food and enough guns and ammunition to wipe out a small town. They will go on to state that anybody who dared venture out of their homes unprepared deserves whatever fate that befalls them.
I don’t like telecommuting myself, I prefer to be in the office, but it is nice to know if we have inclement weather, that I can work from home.
Go rent "Cool Runnings" from Netflix. It's about the zany antics of the Jamaican Olympic Bobsled team and is just as comical as your comment.
Only a fool would invest in snow tires to be used only two or three days in ten or fifteen years. And buying salt will only get a person out of his own driveway. Then what would you suggest?
The day before the storm alert was issued all the Weather Bureau projections advised that it would not hit the Atlanta Metro area. At the last minute they revised the projections to include Hot'lanta.
The fact is that a few million people leaving work early, all at the same time, caused gridlock with traffic slowed by fenderbenders and white-knuckled novice drivers scared of their first time skidding on the ice. After the first hour or two it was already to late to recover.
I am glad I work from home and I recommend it highly. It makes me more objective and understanding too.
I guess I am in the second group, but is it to much and how many would have been helped it the had simple had al weather tires on their vehicles, and had a sleeping bag, a flashlight, a MRE or some lifeboat biscuits, something to drink and maybe an old sweat suit in the trunk? Is that really to much??
If I can assume the dfw stands for Dallas-Ft.Worth (where we lived and had 2 boys for 3+ years in the 70s).
Don’t know what DFW rush hour gridlock looks like these days but if you lived in Atlanta and had to literally piss away a minimum of 2 hours a day in rush hours, you might sing a different tune.
Also if you can look at the pictures of miles of interstate at a dead standstill and still rall against at least being a little prepared then there is no hope or help for you.
Our TV Weathermen and the NWS have predicted snow and ice many times when it didn't happen. North Georgia does have some mountains and predicted snow usually only hits the higher elevations and more rural areas.
Read my post again. Did I not say ‘All Weather’ tires? Do you have a problem with that as well?
Ping!
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