Bender 4 Life Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 the weatherman admits to completely blowing it.....weather model was off by 120 miles this time. 90% of my state is in gridlock, people stranded in cars/trucks/semis on every road in almost every county Governor has mobilized the National Guard, Emergency Management Agency, and all Law enforcement available. My Dept's day foreman said it took him 3+hrs to make a 3o minute drive and barely made it home, and this was between noon and 3:pm before the roads really got bad. Every road in my county is closed, and a "shelter in place" order has been issued by our Sheriff to try to keep people off the roads. i'm staying home tonight, everyone be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Sounds like a good time to stay home for sure. A friend in Tallahassee told me FSU even has half a snow day tomorrow. I never heard of a half a snow day, but I guess that means morning classes are cancelled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I grew up in upstate NY and lived in the northeast for the first 35+ years of my life. Moved to CA and after about 15 years relo'd to Atlanta for my job. Totally forgot how people who are not used to snow go into a f'ing panic when it hits. Almost as bad as the idiots out here in CA who freak out in the rain. Moved back to CA after a couple of years but still sympathize with people who have to put up with the winter stuff. Stay safe and warm all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtim Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Yeah it would be a good night to stay put!!! Keep warm too........I think it is about 6 here where I am in TN. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser Bill Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Dennis...I lived in SoCal for 14 years. You are right...when it rains folks panic...they slide...they crash. Spent the last 17 years living in Pennsylvania...lots of snow. Now I'm in Florida, and its snowing here also. Unbelievable!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 the snow & ice aren't the real problem here......but everyone leaving work and driving in absolute panic at noon, in 1 wheel drive passenger cars is. and 18 wheelers refusing to adjust their speed accordingly. between vehicles off the road, multi-vehicle pileups every few miles, and people abandoning their vehicles in the middle of the road to seek shelter.....it's a bloody mess out there ! one of our county Deputies even chashed a Sheriffs Dept. military Humvee during a rescue operation..... people are taking in strangers and offering them shelter and food.....(this IS Bama after all) and teachers are staying at the schools round the clock w/kids whose parents never made it to pick them up. every local Red-Neck with a "Bigfoot" truck (literally dozens of them) are carrying out rescue operations too.....but lots of folks on our interstates are going to be stranded w/their vehicles 'til tomorrow at the earliest. keep them in your thoughts & (if you're of the persuasion) prayers.....please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrNylon Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I hope your electrical power is still on at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Yeah to the electric. When we lived in Memphis I remember the whole place shutting down with 1/2 inch of snow. Folks had no idea why their brakes didn't work. Sheesh. Anyway it was an interesting reason to leave the office closed and stay at home. Not here. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidl Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Those of us who are used to getting heavy snowfalls tend to forget that not all towns or cities are equipped to remove the snow. Also have to keep in mind that a LOT of people have never driven in snow or on ice. Even where I live where it is not unusual to get a foot or more of snow in one dump, people seemingly forget how to drive. To our southern friends, keep warm and safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Yeah, city folks tend to forget about weather even where I live. But I'm less than a degree of lattitude south of you - and I used to tease a good friend in Toronto that he lived "down south." I think in the boonies we think about ice and snow more - but we also have the advantage of fewer vehicles on the road most of the time. Generally when somebody's stuck in a blizzard they're city folk, regardless that they're here to hunt deer or antelope and consider themselves outdoorsmen. I've also spent several days in the office during and after a blizzard without even attempting to get out. After one storm it took me over half an hour to walk from the office back door to the front - and it's less than 100 yards/meters to do so. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I'm in the habit of watching the local news in the morning - well we don't have a local station but Jacksonville is only 30 miles north and they have a few of them. Anyway, they spent most of the broadcast this morning freaking out about the "possibility" of there being some ice on the bridges up near the state line (Georgia). They had live reports on location and even a guy doing a live spot from a car... "I haven't seen any ice yet, Bob, but it is raining so it could get messy". Then I got an automated call from my kids' school to alert us to the fact that school would remain open. Good grief, it was only 38 degrees! I'm a Florida boy, and even I am amazed at how the tiniest bit of cold freaks everyone out! No wonder we can't manage something simple like voting for President. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 made the 22 mile one way trip to work at 3:pm (went 6 mi. out of the way to avoid a small mountain.....the other 4 were unavoidable) took an hour, roads were about 1/2 sheeted w/ice and damn little sand.....cars abandoned everywhere, a few people shambling up the roadsides....looked like a scene from "The Walking Dead"....offered 2 of the zombies a ride but they were within a block of home and declined. made the same ride back @ 12:30 am after the re-freeze but a LOT more sand had been put out.....had the road to myself....made it home 10 minutes quicker than to work. got home and it's 6 F in my front yard.... supposed to be 53 F today & in the 60s by the weekend, I may just run naked outside if it is............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Interestingly we have had no precipitation in Nashville, no snow but a dusting a few weeks ago. Ice did form on some roads on hills and that made it a challenge, One thing that people seem to run away with is that nobody knows how to drive in ice down here, truth is all it takes is one car to block a road. It does not matter if you know how to drive in these conditions if there is a stranded car blocking your way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Correct absolutely about one car being able to block a roadway. OTOH, it's part and parcel of larger communities, especially but not exclusive to the south, having difficulties getting their collective heads around what a snowstorm is. Or a tornado or hurricane or other such relatively predictable event. Part of that IMHO in northern urban areas - and from my perspective it's about all "urban" east of the Missouri and Mississippi and west of some big hills - is that lifestyles and mind-set is that we're "modern" and live every day in our big rush with a guaranteed schedule that must be followed regardless of the weather. But Ma Nature ain't that kind. Her schedule is her own and we receive only the same consideration as the fowl of the skies and beasts of the earth - none whatsoever. So... when she's about to howl, it's the hubris of humankind to assume we might ignore her; yet ignore her we do, and far too often. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Very true, I think modern life and routine disconnect people from reality, that is why a simple rainfall freaks people out. The setting of my house makes me stay in touch with nature I live in the hilly south of Nashville, Davidson County, my address actually has the word "Hill" in it and so does the connecting street. Less than a mile away there is Brentwood, TN, Williamson County and a very wealthy city with a healthy budget to clean roads during winter and less hills. Getting out of my subdivision is a challenge with steep icy hills, less than a mile away there's clear maintained roads, a completely different world! the county line is like night and day. If I can get out of my neighborhood I am golden for the next 10 miles of my commute to work, unless the ice is not going to thaw out and I have to get back to the house, in that case I would not even leave the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketman Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Looks like you got some ice too. I heard that they declared a winter warning at 3:30AM but the governor didn't call a state of emergency until the afternoon. He admitted that he had a mistake. We don't get much ice in Western NY. There is nothing you can do about driving in ice. Driving in snow is all about momentum management! When I lived in DC, 4 inches of snow shut down the entire city for a week. I had a '93 Camaro and I did fine with it. Although it doesn't snow as much as people think up here, this year has been pretty bad. Lake Erie is frozen now so all the lake effect snow has stopped. I live just north of the lake so I don't get it much anyways. Rochester and Syracuse are on lake Ontario, which is too deep to freeze. They'll continue to get pounded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 well.....I tried taking the 5th (steepest) mountain on my way in to work tonight, reducing the drive by 6 miles.....and came within inches of becoming a statistic, twice !! I saw a semi starting up and figured, "alright!! the road must be clear".....I was wrong.... a cpl. minutes later I was drawn up into a ball as the semi slid back DOWN the mountain, SIDEWAYS, in a jacknife, the cab missing me by less than a foot..... then 50 yards farther up, I hit the 3" ice sheet that sent him back down... realizing I wasn't going to make it, I tried to get turned around, but started sliding down the mountain sideways myself. I saw the semi stopped 1/2 in the road and 1/2 in the culvert on the side, spinning his wheels madly trying to unstick himself...as I careened toward him, trying to straighten my truck out because stopping was impossible at this point. as he slid farther down, now at a 45 degree angle w/the road I finally hit a patch w/no ice & got my truck stopped.....but now the only way around the semi was over another 3" thick patch of unsanded ice, on probably the steepest grade in N.E.Alabama. I laid my truck into it's lowest gear and proceeded, and then another driver (from an SUV the semi had shoved off into the culvert) ran out in FRONT OF ME waving his arms just as I was passing inches from the semis nose... good thing he did because another semi was attempting to come up the mountain..... he ran down and told semi #2 to go the hell away.....& I finally got to the bottom and ended up going the long way to work anyway.....but made it on time !! never ever again am I going to try to play "Ice Road Truckers" in a vehicle not set up for it !! I just hope Mrs.B. never reads this post............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.