Obama Signs Emergency Declaration for Georgia

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: AP

In a dire warning Tuesday, forecasters said a "catastrophic" winter storm threatened to bring a thick layer of ice to Georgia and other parts of the South, causing widespread power outages that could leave people in the dark for days.

Many people heeded the advice to stay home and off the roads, leaving much of metro Atlanta desolate during what is typically a busy morning commute. While only rain fell in the city, places 40 miles northwest saw 2 to 3 inches of snow.

In their warning, National Weather Service forecasters cited potentially crippling snow and ice accumulations as much as three-quarters of an inch for Atlanta. Wind gusts up to 25 mph could exacerbate problems.

snip

President Barack Obama declared an emergency in Georgia, ordering federal agencies to help with the state and local response.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/georgia-ready-snowstorm-time-22455779

[Fred Sanders]

1. Seems the accumulation of ice and snow was to the north west and north east of Atlanta city:

http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?product=NTP&rid=FFC&loop=yes


And the problem is not snow, it is FREEZING RAIN. Freezing rain is a catastrophic disaster. A mere 1/8 inch of freezing rain can do more damage in two hours than 2 feet of snow could possibly do in a week.

[Jesus Malverde]

3. Living in California, I rarely look at weather maps. Amazing how great they've gotten

Thanks

[bunnies]

6. *chuckle*

Live in a warm state, eh? Never heard freezing rain referred to as a "catastrophic disaster" before. Im gonna use that one on my boss next ice storm.

[Dawgs]

9. Boo for the stupid comment. n/t

[bunnies]

18. Yay for hype and hysteria.

[hedgehog]

24. I live in the Lake Ontario snow belt - I'll take any amount of snow any day

over the smallest ice storm!

[wyldwolf]

2. Republican governor Deal immediately states all roads are clear and we should all go joy riding

[onehandle]

4. We've had 30 inches of snow in the last three weeks and will get 8 more on Thursday.

Last edited Tue Feb 11, 2014, 02:53 PM - Edit history (1)

Also an ice storm in Philadelphia a few days ago.

Where is our emergency declaration?

Of course the infrastructure up here keeps the roads clear about 99% of the time.

[Jesus Malverde]

5. where are you at?..nt

[Dawgs]

10. Ice is the problem-not snow. n/t

[Historic NY]

7. Someday they will learn...

Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

[Jesus Malverde]

8. But do you prepare for the rare event.

It's like the preppers who fill their houses with canned goods and ammo. They may be right one day, but in the mean time they're living among boxes of food and ammo for years at an incredible inconvenience.

Stockpiling salt and snow removal equipment would have been really smart or a huge waste of money. Kinda a coin toss.

Spending money to fight terror is a similar investment.

[RebelOne]

11. I live in North Georgia and this is the most snow

I have experienced since I moved here in 1989. Usually, we get one snowfall a year and it doesn't stick around for long. The worst snow was in 1993 when we had a blizzard which is a rare occurence here.

[Jesus Malverde]

13. Ice is the worst. Down goes the grid and no one can drive anywhere...nt

[Historic NY]

15. Snow removal equipment.......

last for years when properly cleaned and maintained. Most trucks have a better than 10-15 year service life and can be used for other purposes. Plows and sanders the same in fact, now are being made of lighter weight materials. Salts isn't the answer in all cases but having an adquate plan to treat the roads is. Relying on just one weather forecast model for a community is poor planning. Any capital expenses show include some equipment.

Where I live we have an elected Highway Supt. you can bet he stays on top of things. In the past 20 yrs with the then frequent storms and road work the then professional engineer Highway supt worked up a multi-yrs plan to purchase equipment. Single axle trucks were replaced with dual for larger hauling capacity, Regluar plows with wings, salt/sand spreaders and liguid de-icing mixing eguipment. Older trucks were converted to dedicated spreaders. We still have a couple of late 1940's -50's road graders that have in the been pressed into service many times over the decades. They rarely used them now except when building althletic fields but they can pull up ice off the pavement. Even the state and county have a few of these old warhorses. The state uses one on the mountain to clear ice.

Cities like NY also use their garbage trucks to plow.

I was in Va. for the late Jan storms and even then I saw a limited amount of snow removal equipment in action. A few inches of snow stops things, for days. Think of the millions in lost commerce and the investment is a mere pittance.

[Lars39]

19. Layer of ice is much worse than snow.

[cstanleytech]

20. Problem is though even the maintaining of it costs money and since such events like ice storms are

pretty rare for the south they do not see a need to spend money for equipment that might not get used but once every 10 - 15 years.

[olddad56]

12. so how are you personally planning for climate change due to global warming?

because that is what these bizarre weather patterns are all about.

[Historic NY]

17. Bizzare or just maybe you forgot these patterns begin to recycle..

themselves. I remember snow 2-3 feet deep when I was a kid....we had huge snow forts. The early 90's winters were brutal here in the NE sub-zero for weeks and mounds of snow. We had 15 storms of a a foot or more in a row. Last year in March I was working outside in shorts residing my house.

La Niña or El Niño have always had a major effect.

[olddad56]

21. and what is having an effect on the currents that you mentioned.

it is all about climate change. You can pretend whatever you need to pretend to deny that climate change isn't happening and happening at a rate far more quickly than was ever predicted. But that won't change the truth. The truth is that as a planet, we are fucked.

[Dopers_Greed]

14. Obama should refuse federal aid to Georgia

In retaliation for the state not voting for him in 2012.



I wonder how that would play out with the Christie defenders at Faux.

[okaawhatever]

23. I know that's a Christie joke, but I do want to point out that Georgia is closer to purple than most

southern states. Michelle Nunn is running for Senate (Sam Nunn's daughter) and she has a chance to win. Just wanted to throw out that glimmer of hope for folks.

[babylonsister]

16. I was just heading north on 95, going home (Savannah). Saw

a caravan, around 25 DOT yellow dump trucks, heading north. Help is on the way; I guess Deal doesn't want to get caught with his knickers down again.

[angrychair]

22. way to go Obama!

Making it "snow" again in GA!

Link: http://m.ajc.com/news/news/conspiracy-theorists-think-government-planted-fake/nc9cW/


Just in case.