Snow Struck

 If seeing snow reminded you of the song "Yeh Haseen Wadiya" it wasnt all that pleasant for people in Atlanta who were surprised by a snow storm named leon which brought about 2 - 3 inches of snow. on what started to be a normal cold tuesday morning turned for the worse and changed the roads with serpentine array of cars gridlocked not able to move inches for hours. For some the day the didnt end and the ordeal continued to night and even next day morning. In a place where there is little or no snow for years, snow can crippling for the cars which is the lifeline of commute through the city. With no winter tires and no need of any kind of snow chains cars riding on roads on unexpected snow had caused numerous accident upto 1200 reported.

For the three years i have lived in Atlanta, luckily i have seen snow all three years. But never did i have to commute through the snowy or icy roads unlike this year. As such Atlanta's traffic is known to be bad especially during rush hours. Though there was 100% forcast of snow oast 1pm on 28th January. I assume the authorities had been lapse in making roads ready to prevent icing which is the big problem creating dangerous road conditions. To add to worries all schools, offices were open to business the usual time. And just when it started snowing everyone hit the road at about the same time. Then the gridlock started.  Cars can go less than half of its normal speed in these slippery roads. There numerous accidents emergency vehicles and tow trucks moving away the accident vehicles from the road. Never have i seen utter chaos like this. At times the car didnt move a inch for about half an hour. With nothing but a cell phone to call or browse i waited and waited like the rest to get to my daugter's school and pick her.
I remembered incidents like the rain in Mumbai with all people stuck and unable to make it to their home. When nature decides to strike its only then we realise we were never ready for this. after 4 hours of ordeal to cross just 8 miles i picked my daughter and tried to get home which took another hour. Everyone was tensed in my daughter's school which still had some children and their parents are not able to make it. Amidst the chaos i could see the smile my daughter had when she stepped out in the snow for the first time in her life. She loved it I loved it too. But would have loved it better if i was closer to the safety of home. When i reached home did i get the news one of coworker was still stuck in highway and had decided to abandon the car for the night as it was going no where and car is certainly not the place to spend a night in with below freezing tempretures. She found restaurants shutting down, then she decided to spend the night in between the aisles of grocery store did she found a another coworker who stays a couple of blocks away and decided to stay there till the chaos ended. Number people spend the nights in gas stations, grocery store aisles. Elementary and high schools were froced to have sleepovers because they know their parents cannot make it. Some people walked several miles to reach their destination. Other people helped the ones in need. the emergency personnel seemed to their best in the given circumstances. Finally the Mayor had to take responsibilty for what caused on the snow day in Atlanta.
The next day after snow day, as expected all the soft snow turned into slippery ice and below freezng tempreptures  didnt help to thaw the ice. It took one more day till the ice melted the most of it. By 31st everything was back to normal once again in the city. People in the northern and mid-western states perhaps cannot relate to this story here because they receive several inches of snow on a daily basis. But down south snow is a rare event, But with changing climatic conditions i do not believe snow is such a rarity. Well till the authorities get a grip on how to handle this situations much better, i know what to do when the next snow is forecast for Atlanta Georgia - stay at home.