Is this even real?

Started by Praxis, January 31, 2014, 08:34:57 AM

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Praxis

http://offgridsurvival.com/preparedness-southsnowstorms/

Not only are the photos amusing and yet off-putting.

Even the author of the article is referring to two inches of snow as a "disaster".

That's pretty cute.


Can any Americans in the southern states confirm this?

Mnemaxa

Quote from: Praxis on January 31, 2014, 08:34:57 AM
http://offgridsurvival.com/preparedness-southsnowstorms/

Not only are the photos amusing and yet off-putting.

Even the author of the article is referring to two inches of snow as a "disaster".

That's pretty cute.


Can any Americans in the southern states confirm this?

I know my friend in Alabama took over two hours to take a twenty minute drive home because of three inches of snow.  On the way she saw - personally saw evidence of - 9 accidents and 3 fatalities on that drive. 

Snow is a disaster for anyone who has never driven in it.

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meikle

I'm not sure how much salt it takes to salt up a day's worth of snow.  Probably not a ton but a lot.  Milwaukee uses more than 50,000 tons of salt every year to keep our roads clear, and we have an army of contracted plow drivers and salt trucks on-hand to handle the streets.

For some reason, I don't think Atlanta, Georgia feels the need to have a fleet of snow plow drivers or salt trucks on hand.  They got as much snow in one day as they usually do over the course of an entire winter.

Northerners drive like they've never been behind the wheel of a car in the few hours between when heavy snowfall starts and when the plows and salt trucks get out there and turn everything to salty slush, too.
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Valthazar

Quote from: meikle on January 31, 2014, 08:51:58 AMNortherners drive like they've never been behind the wheel of a car in the few hours between when heavy snowfall starts and when the plows and salt trucks get out there and turn everything to salty slush, too.

I cringe whenever I hear that sound of the salt slush sticking onto my car when driving.  Better get a car wash every couple of weeks at least, or that salt will start eating away and rusting the undercarriage.  :-(

Praxis

Quote from: Mnemaxa on January 31, 2014, 08:45:51 AM
I know my friend in Alabama took over two hours to take a twenty minute drive home because of three inches of snow.  On the way she saw - personally saw evidence of - 9 accidents and 3 fatalities on that drive. 

Snow is a disaster for anyone who has never driven in it.

That's just...that's insane.

Sad.

The daily drive from my home to the office would constitute as a national emergency down there.

I have a dozen different questions but I suppose I would simply come off as ignorant.  It's just a little bit crazy how a miniscule amount of snow can utterly derail a city.

Iniquitous

Quote from: meikle on January 31, 2014, 08:51:58 AM
I'm not sure how much salt it takes to salt up a day's worth of snow.  Probably not a ton but a lot.  Milwaukee uses more than 50,000 tons of salt every year to keep our roads clear, and we have an army of contracted plow drivers and salt trucks on-hand to handle the streets.

For some reason, I don't think Atlanta, Georgia feels the need to have a fleet of snow plow drivers or salt trucks on hand.  They got as much snow in one day as they usually do over the course of an entire winter.

Northerners drive like they've never been behind the wheel of a car in the few hours between when heavy snowfall starts and when the plows and salt trucks get out there and turn everything to salty slush, too.

Let me see if I can explain.

We'll use Birmingham, Ala since I know the facts around that city best.

First, keep in mind that it simply does not snow often in the deep South. Like, it's been 21 years since it snowed in Birmingham. If it does not snow often, people are not use to seeing it, much less driving in it. Their car tires are not designed for it. The state is simply not as prepared for snow as the Northern states are.

Second, the city of Birmingham is bankrupt. It's budget doesn't include an army of plow drivers, salt trucks and mounds upon mounds of brine/salt/sand. Normally this would not be an issue, since as I stated above, it hasn't snowed in 21 years.

Third, the people in Birmingham, Ala were actually told they would get just a dusting instead of what they got. They, yet again, were unprepared for not only getting snow but for getting the amount they got.

The result of those three things? A royal mess. People died. Parents couldn't get to their kids, kids were stuck in school overnight, adults couldn't get home from work, people were stuck on the roads unable to move.

It's not funny. It's rather irritating to see people laughing at the South about this, especially when you didn't see the South laughing at the North when, two years in a row, they got smacked with hurricanes.
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Praxis

Quote from: Iniquitous Opheliac on January 31, 2014, 09:19:13 AM


It's not funny. It's rather irritating to see people laughing at the South about this, especially when you didn't see the South laughing at the North when, two years in a row, they got smacked with hurricanes.

You're right.  It's not amusing.

I was an ass.  I shoveled six inches of snow from my drive this morning and was on the highways before the plows in my snow tires.  I suppose it's easy to get desensitized to such things.

I can't even imagine being that trapped or helpless when it comes to the weather.

It's sad for the people that lost loved ones due to a squall and generally baffling to me that things go sideways so quickly in that kind of situation.

IStateYourName

The problem isn't the snow per se.  The problem is when the snow melts and then re-freezes into ice.

Two inches of snow doesn't pose much of a problem if drivers exercise a little caution.

Half an inch of ice on a road changes everything.  Friction goes to nil, cars slip and slide helter-skelter, and you get all the pile-ups and crashes you saw on the news.  And if you have widespread black (clear and invisible) ice on roads, that's a clusterfuck in the making.

Neysha

I find it darkly humorous. But that's just the way I am.

Certainly wouldn't laugh in the faces of random Southerners about it of course.

Though one of my friends a few years ago who lived in Nashville was telling me about how Nashville got a few inches of snow and the city was practically shutting down and I just responded tongue in cheek "Just get your broom and sweep it away!"  :P

Clearly I wouldn't be fit for political office. (well for this and many other reasons) ;)
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Zakharra

  IO, it definitely isn't funny, but I can't help but be somewhat amused because I live in an area where it snows a lot every winter (north Idaho) and the thought of 1-3 inches of snow shutting down a city or even a state is kind of amusing from here. It's something  I'm used to. 3 inches is a small snow storm here. That being said those who have suffered in this have my sympathy since dealing with situations you're not familiar with is frightening and I know how those who are not familiar with driving in any snowy conditions can mess up.

Shjade

Quote from: Zakharra on January 31, 2014, 07:07:04 PM
  IO, it definitely isn't funny, but I can't help but be somewhat amused because I live in an area where it snows a lot every winter (north Idaho) and the thought of 1-3 inches of snow shutting down a city or even a state is kind of amusing from here. It's something  I'm used to.

This is just an educated guess, but I'm betting what you mean to say is, "It's something I'm used to my local infrastructure taking care of for me."
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Zakharra

Quote from: Shjade on February 01, 2014, 10:47:15 PM
This is just an educated guess, but I'm betting what you mean to say is, "It's something I'm used to my local infrastructure taking care of for me."

That and most people here know how to drive in the snow. It's expected here to get lots of snow in the winter, so we have the equipment to deal with it. some place like Atlanta wouldn't because it's not something they face but what, once every twenty years or so?

kylie

        For what it's worth, even parts of the Northwest (metro Seattle....)  are not so used to snow, either.  That's usually cloud and rain territory rather than snow, along the coast.  An inch or two in a city that doesn't get much, and stuff can slow to a crawl.  Many businesses just shut and wait it out.  Now the bus websites are plastered with commitments 'doing our best to keep the routes open,' but I remember when they operated (mostly) but took forever to go anywhere in that weather.

         Granted there are more geographically southern cities surprised by it, but just saying.

     

yobo

Quote from: Mnemaxa on January 31, 2014, 08:45:51 AM
Snow is a disaster for anyone who has never driven in it.

And especially so when combined with not having the right kind of equipment on the car. In my work I've driven some pretty steep and narrow roads when it has been either snowing or the road is just icy, but the car have been equipped to deal with it with proper tires. Personally I wouldn't even consider driving in snow or on icy roads without the right kind of tires, I've already had a close call doing that and I'm not looking for another one.

But it is still kinda weird seeing things shut down completely when you are used to worse. But then again people living in the north of Norway have the same attitude towards us living further south, that we just can't handle the snow and whatever snow we get are peanuts compared with what they have. Probably the same everywhere I guess.

Callie Del Noire

I spent five years in Maine and learned to drive in snow and ice. Before I got in the Navy we had a winter storm in the Charlotte area that dropped like a foot or so where I lived and I drove in it doing deliveries for Dominos. How? I had folks who knew how to drive in heavy winter weather tell and teach me how to do it. I have seen folks get bogged down in 4WD vehicles while I drove by in my front wheel drive car?

Why? They didn't know how to drive in this stuff because you MIGHT see a storm like this once a decade in some parts of the south. Hell the last time it snowed here was in 1994. Now you put these same folks in a Southern Summer storm with 20 ft vis and 3 inch run off and I bet they will do better. Why? Because you see that EVERY year down here on the first coast.

I find myself wondering at some of these folks that are going 'oh it's an inch of snow + an inch of ice! big deal', what would THEY do in hurricane weather like I've driven in or how many east coast cities are prepared for EVERY contingency that Mother Nature can throw at us.

It's all relative folks. We down south folks prepare for different things than folks up north, because we have a different enviroment. Think of how much 'fun' it would be to have something like Hurricane Katrina stomp across New England?  A storm like that gets that far north about once a century. And it KILLS. Read up on the impact of some of them in the 1800s.

Oniya

Or this one.

And I think they still talk about Bob out on the Cape.

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Oreo

We have had similar issues where I live in Northern California. A few inches of snow can keep us house bound for up to a week depending on the daytime temperature. There is no shoveling out of our driveway since it is almost half a mile to the road. The snow plows never get to our road until the 3rd or 4th day after it snows.

Another thing to keep in mind that in the areas where the snow is constant and the temperature stays below freezing, the snow remains powdery and feels much different to drive in compared to snow that melts and freezes into ice until it is gone.

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Vekseid

Many in the South also don't have winter-rated tires. You can't even buy tires that aren't winter-rated in Minnesota.

Neysha

Now I know this isn't a laughing matter, but you got to admit... this is kinda funny.

Great, he thinks he can control weather now.

Thanks Obama!  >:(




Meanwhile in Minnesnowda...


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Oniya

Not that I think anyone on E would buy anything that chemtrails site is selling, but the explanation of why that works is pretty cool.  See, you'll notice that the flame being used is a standard lighter.  Standard lighters are smoky.  What's actually turning black, burning and smelling is the soot that gets deposited on the snowball.  Put that same snowball next to an incandescent bulb, and it will melt with no fuss and no smell. 
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Valthazar

Quote from: Neysha on February 05, 2014, 06:07:06 PM
Now I know this isn't a laughing matter, but you got to admit... this is kinda funny.

Just let them have their fun, it's like 'real-life' roleplaying.  ::)

Torch

Quote from: Vekseid on February 05, 2014, 05:48:05 PM
Many in the South also don't have winter-rated tires. You can't even buy tires that aren't winter-rated in Minnesota.

Yeah, I found this out the hard way when I moved from North Carolina to New York.  ::)

My SIL and her husband live in the Adirondack mountains, and they not only have snow tires for their cars, they each have a winter car and a summer car, and they don't dare drive the summer cars after the first frost of the season up there.
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Pumpkin Seeds

We sort of had two run ins with sudden cold weather.  The first was a Friday where little was done by the local officials in actual New Orleans except the closure of some areas.  There were around 220 car accidents that day with two deaths.  I want to say there was a massive pile up on an over pass due to icy conditions.  The night of all the actual panic the city certainly shut down as we showed we, as a people, are not able to handle this kind of weather.  Also remember in New Orleans we have a massive amount of bridges and over passes as there is water pretty much everywhere so a bit of ice means someone can be tumbling into the guard rails and beyond.

Ephiral

Yeah, this isn't a "north vs south" thing so much as a "snow doesn't happen here" thing. In 1999, Toronto (in Canada! Land of polar bears and ice and igloos!) required Army support for about a foot of snow, and was completely paralyzed by it. Where I'm from, we've taken to calling weather like that "Wednesday", and it shuts down nothing. But it's worth noting that every year in my city, roughly 1 in 5000 people will be killed while walking down the street because some driver laughed at a couple inches of snow or a light fog.

Kythia

Well holy fuck.  A wild Ephiral appears.
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