Ice Storm '14 in Everyday Things

Jasmine and I have been wonderful ever since the visit. We were worried about how the initial visit would go and whether her parents would approve of our relationship, but we are better than ever :-).

After I came back from the trip, Georgia experienced snowmageddon/gridlocalypse from Tuesday until Thusday. The National Weather Service had initially issued a winter storm warning for parts of North Georgia and south Georgia, but they upgraded the warning to include the majority of Metro Atlanta. Unfortunately, the powers that be didn't heed the warning. Schools were still in session, and the decision was made to let schools out AND all employees out at the same time. The result was catastrophic gridlock all around Atlanta. I'm sure you all heard about it, and we were mocked all over the national media especially our governor and mayor. The bad part about the storm was the ice. No one was truly prepared for how bad the storm was at the time, but we didn't know the previous event would prepare us for another major storm.

This week, everyone was told about the upcoming snow/ice storm facing Georgia. Even President Obama issued a state of emergency for Georgia. Most places in North Georgia would face anywhere from 3"-9" of snow while places south of Atlanta would face "catastrophic" and "historic" accumulation of ice totaling anywhere from .75" up to 1" of ice. We're going to be under freezing for close to 30 hours, and with the freezing rain, there's worry of widespread power outage in Georgia. The storm started last night around midnight and is expected to continue through tomorrow.

So, yesterday, I was at home and contemplated whether we should try and ride out the storm or find another place to go just in case. I called my brother-in-law to see if they had a backup generator. I knew they had a fireplace. I knew we would be warm in case of a power outage. All we had at the house was a gas stove and a fireplace, but we never tried to see if the fireplace was functional. Our gas stove is also powered by electricity, so I decided the best thing to do is head over my sister's. I tried telling my mom, but she absolutely refused to go. She felt confident that she could ride out the storm, but I didn't want to take the chance of having the power go out and being without power for days.

I told my mom I was going to pack up my things, and she should do the same. Unfortunately, she wanted to stay home and ride it out. I was starting to get agitated with her. Keep in my mind my sister lives about 10 minutes from her. I came over to my sister's and explained what mom was doing. My sister called mom and practically demanded that she will pack her things and come over. Amber and I made our way to the house, and mom finally had everything packed and ready to go.

As I'm sitting here now, I'm thankful that my sister's power is going strong. I have no idea if things are well at the house; all the roads are practically iced over anyway. We're planning on staying over my sister's until tomorrow afternoon at least. I'm going to go and get something to eat. Hope everyone stays safe out there!