I just wanted to say thank you for this site. Im a Georgia girl, born and raised farther south, in Bonaire, GA. Ive lived in Atlanta for the last 8 years. I always just thought of Atlanta as a giant city, and now living and working here, I mostly just grumbled about the endless traffic! Tuesday, I was at work about 11 or so I heard it had started snowing in Cobb...I live in Acworth but work in Sandy Springs. I promised my husband who was home sick in bed that I would leave work soon! I didnt make it out until closer to 1 pm. Well, after a few failed attempts to get to 285W on main roads (barely moving for a couple hours) I then thought I could take some back roads over to hit 285 West at the Northside exit. I needed to get to 75N. It was slow and slick but I was so confident we could all get through...lines of crawling cars. Well, hours passed, it got dark, we still werent off the hillside of Northside Drive...once I got to the last stretch going down hill, I saw cars sliding down, slipping into the ditches/sides, each other...nobody was getting through, so I stopped and turned around on the 2 lane road...well, now I couldnt get traction. I was panicking, crying, my car was slipping backwards, could not move a bit forward now! To the wonderful man with the big 4 wheel drive pickup on Northside Drive, bless you! I dont know his name...he saw my terror, he offered to push me with his truck. This kind man got out in the falling snow, freezing cold, took off his coat and tied it to the steel bars on the front of his grill so he wouldnt scratch my SUV. He pushed me back to a flat spot where I could get enough traction to stop sliding backwards...I was shaking so badly! I pulled to a safe spot and was crying, calling my husband begging to be told how to get out of there! The feeling I know so many now know, the desperation to get home, but the lonely realization that you will NOT be going home tonight...I cant describe that feeling! I sat on the side of the road, near Mt Vernon Highway, hoping no one would slide into me...it got quieter, lonely..few cars continued by...I hoped that I could last the night alternating the car/heat off and on, and drive out at daylight (wishful thinking)...a friend texting me, found this site and let me know. I had my car charger and FB and this site made me feel so connected in the lonely darkness...I confess I cried quite a bit, feeling so hopeless, afraid...at midnight (11 hours in my car at this point) a Sandy Springs police officer was going around plucking people like me out of our cars...I dont know the officers name but he has my eternal gratitude...he drove myself and 2 other ladies to a shelter Sandy Springs was coordinating with the Red Cross on Hammond Drive. Then he left to go out for more...they were bringing folks in all night. They gave us food and water. I laid down and pulled my jacket over me to try to rest, but i had only worn a lighter leather jacket...then the Red Cross delivered blankets to all of us. Its a particularly weird feeling to be clutching at a warm blanket and feeling tears of gratefulness...like a homeless person with nothing who has been handed the best gift! I was so emotional, every act of kindness from a stranger was making me cry! I saw people putting blankets over total strangers who had already fallen asleep without a blanket. Through FB and online news stories, I was beginning to realize this was a much bigger disaster than you can possibly know when you are trapped in your car. Long story short, I stayed the night in the shelter, but the next morning, they said we werent getting out/getting our cars that day as the highway was still blocked...I walked a couple miles in the ice back to my work, slept by my desk Wednesday night and finally by lunch Thursday (48 hours after I first started for home) a stranded coworker who had been at my work as well, drove me to my car. There was still a bit of ice there, back road, shady, but I got out!!! I cried when I finally pulled into my driveway. I was luckier than so many, because I only had to stay in my car for 11 of those 48 hours, and was taken to a shelter, instead of spending 24 or more hours in a car like so many. I read the stories on SnowedoutAtlanta, it gave me strength, made me cry, I knew we all were not alone in this but were surrounded by angels, all those kind souls who gave selflessly to strangers. Thank you to all who helped me, I will never know your names. My faith in humanity was restored these last few days and I will now know, when we are all stuck in our day to day normal commutes, (and grumble we will) that we live in a city crowded with beautiful and generous souls!
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 06:13:27 +0000
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