A snowstorm that blew a couple inches of snow in the south may be over, but thousands of people are still feeling the effects.
Atlanta, along with North Carolina, Alabama and other regional states, were hit with two inches of snow early Tuesday afternoon. According to reports, many areas, including Atlanta, claimed to be prepared but were hit with gridlocked traffic when salt trucks couldn’t get to the highways.
As of Wednesday evening, many Atlanta residents remain trapped in their vehicles and on Tuesday night, many slept at local stores or in their cars, unable to make it home.
So far, here’s what we know:
– Schools and businesses in the entire state of Georgia will remained closed Thursday.
– There have been 940 crashes and 104 injuries reported in Atlanta since 10 a.m. Tuesday.
– Alabama’s Emergency Management Agency has reported 5 deaths and 23 injures.
– 30 spreaders, 40 snowplows and 70,000 tons of sand were dispersed in Atlanta this morning.
– Many people have opened their homes for people seeking shelter in Atlanta.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed talked to CNN about the snowstorm that left many residents sleeping on highways and retail stores. Reed believes that it was a mistake for schools and businesses to release people out early Tuesday, around the same time the two inches of snow hit. Reed told CNN:
“I said immediately yesterday that releasing all of these folks was not the right way to go,” Reed said in a testy exchange with CNN’s Carol Costello on Wednesday morning.”I don’t feel people are angry at me. I feel they have a great deal of frustration.”
“If we close the city of Atlanta and our Interstate system based on maybes, then we would not be a very productive (state or city).” He said that some forecasts called for just a dusting of snow. “It’s easy to make judgment calls after the fact, but I daresay there’s not anybody in this room that could have (predicted the degree) of the problem that developed.”
However, amongst all the chaos was the birth of a baby girl in the crowded city traffic! Sandy Springs Capt. Steve Rose told reporters that baby Grace was delivered at 5:20 p.m., and is doing fine.
“Fortunately he had his emergency lights on and people got out of his way,” Rose said. “The delivery was pretty flawless.”
We hope everyone stays warm.
Follow @GlobalGrindNews for the newest developments in the Atlanta snow saga.
SOURCE: CNN, Huffington Post| PHOTO CREDIT: Twitter
