Jan. 28 will be 10 years since ice and snow had the city of Atlanta at a standstill.
The “snowpocalypse” that crippled Northern Georgia in 2014, included two inches of snow falling in the Atlanta area, sending everyone working or going to school in the area home early.
The snow quickly froze on the ground and compacted into ice, leaving local roads at a standstill. Thousands of drivers were stranded, prompting neighbors to reach out and help house people who otherwise couldn’t get home.
The Facebook group “SnowedOutAtlanta” was created to organize help and support. It attracted more than 40,000 followers on Jan. 28, 2014 and remained open, with admins continuing to share news following other winter weather events, until 2022.
In 2014, one of the main focuses of the SnowedOutAtlanta group was helping children get to safety from stuck school buses. Schools staggering dismissal times led to busses being on the road after heavy icing had already started, leaving dangerous road conditions, especially in Northern Fulton and Cobb Counties.
One contributor on SnowedOutAtlanta noted that they were housing 14 high school students from Westlake High School in Fulton County. Another post said that some buses were turning around and heading back to the school they came from, keeping kids overnight.
In Cobb County, some students were given the choice to walk home. Current Kennesaw State student Alyssa Hall recalls a parent-led effort in her neighborhood to get students home from Daniell Middle School in Marietta.
“My sister’s friend’s dad walked all the way from our neighborhood to the middle school,” Hall said. “He got all the kids in our subdivision and escorted them back home.”
Following the storm, former Governor Nathan Deal announced the creation of a Winter Weather Taskforce to ensure that Georgia would be better prepared for the next time that winter weather strikes.
In the 10 years since the “snowpocalypse”, Georgia has made several improvements to its winter weather prevention stock. In an interview with Fox 5 Atlanta, the Georgia Department of Transportation said that in 2014, they only made about 5,000 gallons of brine at the time. Today, they have the capacity to make 1.8 million gallons.
They now rely on new technology, such as road sensors, to help them better understand current road conditions. Additionally, GDOT has 393 snow removal dump trucks and 61 Ford F-150 pickups used as plows and spreaders.
The Georgia Emergency Management Agency has a list on its website of ways you can prepare for winter weather to keep yourself and your family safe. More information can be found here.
