Atlanta Ice Storm Experience

Around 2:00 PM in the Apartment Complex job site.

Before I go into detail about my experience with this atrocious even, I wanna start off by saying "I'm an idiot".  I made some questionable choices and I should of taken some different routes and gotten off early.  I was working on a job site in Sandy Springs, GA, a suburb of Atlanta and my hotel was at the Holiday Inn in Dunwoody which is approximately 6 miles away.  The first sign of snow started approximately 10 AM.  I knew the roads would be bad but I had no idea they would be this bad.  I thought maybe I would be on the roads at the worst til 10 PM.  I even drove on them at 1 PM and they had snow on them but no severe ice. I thought it would be fairly easy (see I'm an idiot).  So I continue to work my crew and the snow is rapidly falling from the sky.  I didn't receive a call from my boss to cut the crews early and no reports of the roads being terribly bad just bad traffic.

Roswell Rd. at 1:00 PM

We usually work till 7:30 PM but I decided to leave a little early, so we left at 6:30 PM.  If you look at a map I started from Huntcliff Village Ct.  and I turned south on Roswell Rd. Highway 9.  I will let you know that there are 4 possible ways out of where I was to get to the main highway, hwy 400.  You could go North on Roswell Rd. but that is the opposite direction and I felt that was not even an option.  Dunwoody Pl. was the first road I could of turned left on and I felt the hill was going to be a tough to climb.  Then the other way out was down Northridge rd. and they had a huge hill and there was already cars sliding.  So I continued south down Roswell rd. and I was doing pretty well and then this hill appeared with cars stalled out.  I still believe if I had the chance I could of made it up the hill. So I turned around to see if the other routes were viable options.  I then decided to try Northridge rd. this is where I felt true panic. I made the climb and came very close but just like I would run into numerous times, cars stalling out in front of me so I was unable to gain momentum.  I also noticed around me that more and more people were becoming desperate and when they become desperate, they become dumb. I remember trying to get up that hill and this little car behind me was speeding up the hill around me just to find cars in front of her.  I was white knuckled at this point and I realized I just needed to get off the road.  These people were going to run into me and I didn't want to damage this company truck.  My plan then turned into waiting it out. Hopefully the crazy people would get off the road.  Now to find a place to eat, all the major restaurants closed down so I need to find something to eat. I found a little sports bar in a strip mall to wait it out and maybe even get some work done.  This turned out to be a little rougher than I thought, so I ate and got out of there.  I then looked around for hotels and maybe I would just spend the night. No dice, all hotels were bought out and the closest hotel was around 4 miles away.

At about 9 PM I decided to try one more time, double no dice.  Northridge was a grave yard of cars past and Roswell Rd. was bumper to bumper.  I tried to get up Dunwoody Pl one more time. I had a clear path and I almost had it and then I started slipping and this was a hairy moment.  When I knew I had no chance of making up the hill and I think made my way back down the hill but there was a few cars that were stuck.  I'm backing down slowly and narrowly missed this lady in her car and I could see her face scared to death that I was going to hit her.  I made it down and decided I was royally screwed.  All possible routes were blocked with cars and horrific hills, now I was in full survival mode and I was going over my options.  I can sleep in my truck, I have 3/4 of tank and I could always get more but that was not my favorite option.  I could go back to the job site which is an apartment complex and sleep on the floor and try again in the morning.  I decided that was the best choice. I called my boss and updated him and he wanted to drive out to come and get me, I told him to not get us both stuck.  He was genuinely concerned for my safety and I thought it was safer for all of us to stay off the road.  I arrived at the apartment and laid down and actually threw my pants and socks in the dryer which were all wet from the snow.  I laid down for about 2 hours,  I would like to say I shut my eyes but I couldn't be fully sure.  The apartment unit had walls taken out so it was very cold and I just couldn't sleep very well.   At around 12:30 AM I was fully awake and I was truly concerned about tomorrow and I just wanted to be at my hotel. I got all my stuff and jumped in the truck and went into a parking lot to look at the traffic and try to work up a plan.  I was trying to find a back road, I attempted this route which I can't currently tell you where it is.

Roswell Rd. at 12:30 AM

This road took me exactly no where so i decided for some reason to go north on Roswell Rd. This is the road that took me in the opposite direction and it had tons of cars. I sat there for just about an hour and I found out they were diverting the traffic to Azalea which would run back into Roswell Rd. which could lead me to Highway 400.  This was my plan. Just get to the highway and just tough it out there. I was going down streets I've never been down before and I was just following where I thought I could get to Hwy 400.  During this whole ordeal it was full on mayhem, I didn't stop at stop lights because I never wanted to stop momentum.  I finally made it after about 45 minutes of driving, this was such a win, I tried for many hours to get to this highway.  Where I was was initially was approximately 1 mile away.  I basically drove 6 miles out of the way to get to Hwy 400.  Hwy 400 was awesome and I have to tell you I was a little frightened about this because the entire highway was empty (except for the abandoned cars which were scattered throughout hwy). I was just wanting to stay on the highway and get on I-285 which my hotel was off of.  I was feeling like a genius at this point, I was cruising down 400 and the conditions were fine. 

I-285 traffic at around 3:30 AM

It was around 3 AM when I arrived at I-285, I was around 1 1/4 miles away from my exit and this is where my true test came.  It was bumper to bumper traffic and the road conditions then became worse and worse. The ice was extremely thick and moving 5 feet became a true task.  On the shoulder there was more and more cars and there were hundreds of 18 wheelers on the road.  The only way to describe this scene was it looked like a kid was playing with toy cars and scattered them throughout a 6 lane highway.  Cars were having trouble just moving forward, I was slipping severely in my truck.  More and more I'm thinking I'm almost there.  It was around 4:30 AM and I could see signs for my exit and it was a 1/4 mile away.  I was sliding slowly towards 18 wheelers and you probably could of made a diamond if you know what I mean.  I would be in the right lane and then abruptly moving to the far left lane because of stalled cars and 18 wheelers.  In thick ice I was maneuvering around objects, it was basically an obstacle course from hell.  I was so so close.  I could see the on ramp but there was an empty vehicle running and an 18 wheeler in the right lanes. I got out to see if it was even remotely possible I could get over.  I then reversed on the highway and with help of some very helpful motorist I was able to switch lanes and around the vehicles in the way. I make it up the on ramp and I knew I was home free.  The Holiday Inn was right there, the reports are true, it felt like a zombie movie.  At 5:28 AM I finally pulled in to The Holiday Inn and I ran into the hotel to the bathroom (I was in the vehicle for 5 hours straight).  I walk into the lobby and there are a bunch of people sleeping in the lobby, it was like a hurricane came through and displaced everyone.  I was one of the "lucky ones". There was tons of people who left their cars and had no place to sleep.

I heard it was going to snow around Saturday so this wasn't a huge surprise.  Atlanta in my opinion should be EMBARRASSED by their response and preparation for this event.  I don't wish what I went through on anyone.  I had a few friends in Atlanta who went through a similar experience.  I'm not being dramatic here but it was one of the most stressful and draining nights of my life.  Again I was one of the lucky ones. I didn't hit anyone or get hit by anyone and I didn't have to leave my car on the side of the road.  I would of done a lot of things differently of course but I was in a town I wasn't familiar with and it was extremely stressful.  The best part of it, I made it to my bed.