South Storm: Fender Benders, Food Runs, Disrupted Inaugural

UPDATE 6:39 p.m.

A winter storm stalking the South disrupted a new governor's inaugural ceremonies in North Carolina, triggered hundreds of fender benders in Tennessee and led shoppers to empty out shelves of bread and milk.

Road workers manning 12-hour shifts rushed to pre-treat roads as states of emergency were declared in Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas as the storm closed in amid threats of snow, sleet, freezing rain and gusting winds.

Winter storm warnings were issued for parts of Alabama and Georgia, including Atlanta, and into the Carolinas and part of Virginia. Schools canceled classes in several states. Officials warned that their Southern cities, with far fewer snowplows than up north, could grind to a halt with even a thin coat of ice or snow.

The winter mess was blamed for hundreds of fender benders and other non-injury crashes, some involving school buses, on Nashville roads coated by 1 to 2 inches of snow early Friday. Nashville's city school district ordered classes to start as schedule but had to hastily call early dismissals as police reports of non-injury crashes multiplied. All students were later transported safely home.

"We apologize," Nashville Schools Chief Operating Officer Chris Henson said. "We realize that it's been very frustrating for everyone. And the timing was very unfortunate, as far as the weather change."

In North Carolina, the storm threat sent incoming Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and his invitees scrambling to the Executive Mansion ballroom for an abridged swearing-in ceremony Friday. A larger outdoor ceremony Saturday organized for thousands had to be scrapped.

"Consider yourselves the chosen few," Cooper jokingly told family, friends and well-wishers after his 20-minute oath-taking.

Lauren Rathbone, manager of a Public Hardware store in Durham, North Carolina, estimated the store sold nearly 7 tons of ice melt in 50- and 10-pound bags, along with hundreds of sleds and shovels. Describing the mood of customers, she said: "Up until about 10 o'clock: Happy, excited, and 'at least I got my stuff.' After 10 o'clock: 'Why the hell ain't you got anything?'"

In Atlanta, where memories of a catastrophic snow and ice storm in 2014 are still fresh, city leaders pleaded with motorists not to venture out onto slick highways. The earlier storm brought traffic to a standstill on metro Atlanta freeways, and office workers were forced to spend the night in their cars in gridlock. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed organized early dismissals Friday to avoid a repeat of the 2014 traffic jam.

At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest airport, Delta Air Lines on Friday announced that 350 flights had been canceled ahead of the storm.  "We never close," airport spokesman Reese McCranie said. "This is something we train for throughout the entire year."

A mix of rain and sleet was expected across parts of Georgia Friday. Two to 4 inches of snow could cover much of the state by Saturday morning, forecasters said. Snow-removal trucks and dozens of road workers from south Georgia were moved north to help clear roads.

Freezing rain was expected in Alabama, the National Weather Service said.

Shoppers were out in force seeking staples like milk, bread and eggs.

By the time Justin Fetty, 31, of Hampton, Virginia, made it to a Food Lion, every brand of bread that he was familiar with was gone. "You had to buy like weird stuff," he said, at a loss describe exactly what kind of bread he purchased. "But my daughter needs her PB&Js. You can't make them with tortillas."

Nancy Nusbaum, 54, of Norfolk, Virginia, stocked up at the grocery store and then a wine store, getting two cases of wine for all the friends she expected to help her weather it out.

"Right now, it's just me," she said with a laugh, noting her husband was in Florida. "But I'm stocking up for all my friends who are going to come and check on me."

Her dog Jenny, a lab mix, also had just died and Nusbaum had just picked up her ashes, now in a bag on the car's backseat. "I gotta get through this somehow," Nusbaum added.

The storm was blamed for one death Thursday in Kentucky when a motorist drove off a curve on a snow-slickened road.

Winter weather was also slamming parts of the West, prompting some dangerous conditions but also drawing skiers to the slopes. In Colorado, heavy snow and strong winds raised the danger of avalanches. Snow in Boise, Idaho, reached 15 inches Thursday, breaking the previous snow-depth record of 13 inches from mid-1980s.

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Foreman reported from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Associated Press writers Jonathan Drew in Durham, North Carolina; Jack Jones in Columbia, South Carolina; Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama; Jeff Amy in Jackson, Mississippi; and Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee contributed to this report.

UPDATE 3:34 p.m.

The National Weather Service has announced a Wind Chill Advisory from 1/7/2017 4:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for Georgia.

UPDATE 2:34 p.m.

Statement from Mayor Kasim Reed's office:

Mayor Kasim Reed today announced a series of actions that the City of Atlanta is taking to prepare and respond to expected inclement winter weather. Current weather forecasts are predicting a mix of rain and snow beginning at 4 p.m. today. The City of Atlanta is following guidance from Governor Nathan Deal and will dismiss all non-essential employees early, and all public employees and city residents are encouraged to be at home and off the roadways before precipitation begins.

The City is currently operating at a Level 3 emergency response. City crews will begin operating on 12-hour shifts throughout the duration of the storm to ensure the safety and

drivability

of city roadways. City residents and visitors are encouraged to avoid all unnecessary travel during periods of precipitation and while crews are working to clear and treat surface streets.

“Ensuring the safety of our residents and visitors is our highest priority during extreme winter weather events. We are working closely with our state and local partners to ensure we are fully prepared to respond to this weekend’s severe weather and will work around the clock to treat and keep roadways clear,” said Mayor Reed. “I encourage everyone who lives, works or visits Atlanta to sign up for NotifyATL, our emergency notification system, and follow guidelines to keep your families safe during throughout the weekend.”

The Mayor’s Office is coordinating closely with the city’s major employers, as well as the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) and other local jurisdictions to share information, coordinate activities and respond to changing conditions. The City of Atlanta supports the APS plan for early release of all students today and strongly encourages parents to make advance plans for connecting with their children, whether through pick up at school or at bus stops. The staggered release schedule begins at 12:30 p.m. for elementary students, 1:30 p.m. for high school students and 2:05 p.m. for middle school students. This plan carefully considers the need to get students and employees home prior to 4:00 p.m.

City of Atlanta winter weather preparedness actions include:

• Deploying Department of Public Works personnel to pre-treat priority 1 and 2 bridges and roadways. Crews will work from 11 a.m. Friday through Monday, January 9.
• Mobilizing City of Atlanta’s resources which include a total of 12 salt spreaders, 40 snow plows, 8 brine sprayers, 2000 tons of salt in hand, 1500 tons of aggregate and 10,000 gallons of brine. The City of Atlanta also has private contractors on standby if additional resources are needed.
• Utilizing NotifyATL, the emergency notification system for residents of Atlanta, to include the latest details regarding weather conditions, road closures and various aspects of the City’s response.
• Engaging the Ice Tracking Equipment Application with GPS tracking capabilities to allow the City of Atlanta to monitor roads in real time, and provide online information to the public.
• Opening the emergency overflow warming shelter at Old Adamsville Recreation Center on Friday, January 6 from 5:00 p.m. until Monday morning.
• To encourage families to stay safe, the Department of Parks and Recreation has canceled all recreation center activities for Friday, January 6 until Monday, January 9, 2016.
• The City of Atlanta Municipal Court will close at 11:30 a.m. and will re-open at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, January 9. Reschedule notices will be sent to all defendants scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. calendars.

UPDATE 11:24 a.m.

Gov. Nathan Deal will declare a state of emergency for 79 counties at noon on Friday, January 6, ahead of a significant weather event.

Acting upon the recommendation of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, Deal is ordering state agencies to prepare for up to four inches of snowfall.

8:34 a.m.

 
 

Panicked shoppers emptied shelves of bread and milk, road workers began working 12-hour shifts, and governors in Alabama and Georgia declared states of emergencies ahead of a winter storm stalking the South.

In Cary, North Carolina, Stuart Hall's regular run for groceries looked like something out of the just concluded holiday shopping season.

Hall said the parking lot of the store near his home in Cary, North Carolina, is usually fairly empty when he shops so late in the week. But across the South, many were stocking up on eggs, bread, milk and other staples ahead of the storm's expected arrival late Friday amid threats of snow, sleet and freezing rain across the Southeast.

"Today, it was like mall shopping during the holidays. People going up and down the lanes looking for a spot," he said Thursday. "As I walked in, I jokingly asked if there was any food and the clerk just laughed."

Sherrill Suitt Craig went shopping at a store near her home in north Raleigh, but she had to leave for a grocer in nearby Wake Forest because her initial stop was too crowded.

"I have no idea why, but people are acting like complete jackasses when they hear that there is snow in the forecast," Craig said. "I was just doing my regular shopping."

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for part of Friday and Saturday from eastern Alabama through north Georgia, including Atlanta, and into the Carolinas and part of Virginia.

Schools canceled classes in several states and Alabama and Georgia issued emergency declarations ahead of the storm, which already was being blamed for one road fatality Thursday in Kentucky.

Daniel Noble, 55, died after he rounded a curve in his pickup truck and slid off into a rail fence about 14 miles south of the city of Jackson, authorities said, adding there was about an inch of new snow on the road.

School districts in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia either closed or called off classes early as snow began falling there Thursday and more cancellations were planned Friday, including by school systems in central Alabama amid the threat of up to 3 inches of snow and sleet.

In Georgia, a mix of rain and sleet was expected Friday afternoon, with 2 to 4 inches of snow covering the ground in much of the state by Saturday morning, forecasters said.

Snow-removal trucks and dozens of road workers from south Georgia were moved to the northern part of the state to help clear roads, the Georgia Department of Transportation said. Many of the workers began working 12-hour shifts on Friday.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley issued a state of emergency that will open its emergency operations center Friday morning and put 300 Alabama National Guard soldiers at the ready to help if needed.

In North Carolina, Saturday's ceremonies formally marking the inauguration of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper have been canceled. Activities scheduled for Friday will go on as planned.

Snowfall across North Carolina was expected to range from about 1 inch around Lumberton to as much as 9 inches around Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Durham and Raleigh. As much as 7 inches could fall from Asheville to Charlotte, forecasters said.

In South Carolina, up to 7 inches of snow could fall in the Greenville-Spartanburg area.

The warning for central North Carolina called for a mixture of snow and sleet with up to 5 inches locally and as much as 7 inches from the central piedmont to the northern coastal plain.

Mike Schichtel, lead forecaster at the federal government's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said the storm threat is significant for the Southeast.

"If you have a four-wheel-drive vehicle and you think you're safe, you're not," Schichtel said. "Take it very seriously and adjust your travel plans accordingly."

To the west, heavy snow and strong winds have raised the danger of avalanches in the Colorado high country. A storm tracking across central California is dumping significant snow on the mountains, while a winter storm has already coated northern Utah with 9 inches of snow, forcing officials to cancel or delay classes Thursday.

The National Weather Service said snow accumulating for several weeks in Boise, Idaho, reached 15 inches Thursday and broke the previous snow-depth record of 13 inches set twice in the mid-1980s.

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Associated Press writers Jack Jones in Columbia, South Carolina, and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.