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Thousands stranded in Atlanta. Highways that look like partaking
lots, 900 car accidents and 2000 students stranded and forced to shelter in
place. A lot of the South is clearly not ready for this kind of winter snow conditions, mostly those places where snow is rare. It’s
a good idea to be prepared, even for those that usually don’t have to deal with
snow.
3 comments:
1) I think there was a lot of incompetence to go around -- but especially on the part of city and state government. They had two days warning in the weather forecasts.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/29/us/atlanta-traffic-hell-why/
Three inches of snow freezing into ice --and NO salt on the roads. Even drivers in the North would have trouble with that.
Anyone who expects a weather forecast to be 100% perfect --who doesn't plan for the worse -- is a moron.
The larger lesson is that if governments fail badly at minor weather disturbances predicted DAYS in advance --this incident, Hurricane Katrina, etc. -- then what will be their performance when the crap really hits the fan?
If you look at the underlying issues for Atlanta, you'll quickly realize that this problem has little to do with snow, per se, and everything to do with general transportation problems of Atlanta itself.
Basically, Atlanta is just too spread out, with too much isolation between business districts and residential areas, with only a tiny subway/train system, and thus, too reliant on their highway system.
Anyone who has ever visited Atlanta realizes this very quickly, as you are constantly on highways for 30 minutes at a time, to get anywhere, with no other alternate routes, and the highways can be packed, even during the non-rush hour periods.
The fixes for this is the same as any other city. Build out the subway / rail system, so that you reduce highway / road traffic, and zone the region so that businesses are located closer to residential areas.
This article sums up the problem nicely:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/atlanta-snow-storm-102839.html#.UunQ3PldV8E
Prioritized SHTF events for me:
1. Ice/Snow storms
2. Poor Economy/hyperinflation
3. Crime/Home Invasion
4. Overreaching/Tyrannical despot
5. Pandemic
I live 90mins from Atlanta. 4 out of my 5 top concerns are already happening. I can't get prepped fast enough.
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