Deadly Ice storm turns Atlanta into frozen tundra

[DINGO Joe]

Southern cities don't have the equipment or the supplies to handle events like this and given their relative rarity, there is no reason to.  Cities that shut down in advance (like New Orleans) just quietly got through this, cities that got caught off guard by forecasts that had the snow/ice going south of them--Birmingham and Atlanta--they were screwed.  When it became apparent that the ice/snow was going to hit them, everybody tried to get out of work/school at once and it was a huge fail.

[DINGO Joe]

They didn't even have a couple of emergency snow plows or ice salt?

Maybe a couple, but how do use them in gridlock?  Plus transportation in metro Atlanta is a disjointed 16 county process.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/atlanta-snow-storm-102839.html?hp=pm_1#.UungZLQ2Lec

[DINGO Joe]

Alaska has had the opposite problem, with temperatures way above normal.  Heavy rains caused  an avalanche that cut off the only road into Valdez and left a snow dam which has created a lake.  Since Valdez is a port supplies can be barged in, which is good because road crews can't remove the avalanche until the lake drains.

[DINGO Joe]

I would say though that regardless of region the real lesson from all this is why designing an area like the disastrous sprawled out mess that metro Atlanta is is a bad idea.

I agree, but can we honestly say that most Northeastern and Midwestern cities are better in this regard? Median commutes are a bit shorter, more people use public transit, and our cities and inner suburbs are more densely built, but most people in the region remain no less automobile-dependent than those in the South.

Not that I've driven every loop in the US, but I do find Atlanta to be the most unpleasant with Houston probably second.