Snowpocalypse 2014

The "dusting" on January 28 is not one that we will forget, at least for a very long time. I had been watching the weather reports for a few days where all the local meteorologists were predicting an ice/snow event for January 28. It was supposed to be for South Alabama but the models kept slowly creeping northward. They had predicted snow at the beach and ice as far as Montgomery. Since Robert works in Montgomery I was a little worried about him getting stranded there. We double checked the weather before he left that morning and it seemed like it would just be some flurries but the models had moved the snow line up to us in Shelby County. The school I work at follows Shelby County schools for weather closings and Shelby County is known to wait until the very last minute to make a decision which usually ends up putting us in an unsafe driving situation. I knew the same thing would happen with this event. I had talked to my kids at morning group time about the possibility for snow and promised them we would go play in it if it happened. We kept impatiently looking out the window, but nothing was happening. I had a feeling nothing would and we would all be disappointed. Around 9:30 am, Robert texted me that the weather in Montgomery got bad fast and that he was on his way home. He said it was just raining but when he went out to his car, it was already a solid sheet of ice. He knew if he waited any longer, he would be stranded so he left around 9:30 to make the hour and a half drive home. I told him if Shelby County didn't close to come pick up Bryson early since he should be home around 11:00. Needless to say that didn't happen. Shortly after I got the text from Robert, the flurries started. We all got excited and quickly finished our centers and snack so we could go outside and play in it. Once we got outside, I noticed that it was already sticking to the sidewalk. I started to worry since their was no word on the schools closing. The longer we stayed out, the harder it snowed and the more it accumulated. We got too cold and went inside praying that the school system would make the right decision. As we were walking in, one of my kids fell because the sidewalk was already iced over. Thankfully she was OK, but it just made me worry more when we got inside and the school system still had not made a decision. I could not figure out what the hold up was, other than the fact that the Shelby County school board members are a bunch of idiots.

 Me and Bryson playing in the snow at school.

 My class enjoying the snow.

 Bryson loved it!

 Bryson and his class being silly.

Not too long after we got inside, I got another text from Robert. He had texted me a picture of his drive home. It was snowing hard, there was snow covering the interstate, and an 18 wheeler had spun out on the ice. I got even more worried because there was still no word from the school system. Finally around 11, Shelby county schools decided it would be a good idea to close the schools at noon, so we would close at 12:30. Mrs. Sarah fixed lunch quickly so all the kids could eat. After we ate, we all headed to the Kindergarten room to watch a movie until the parents arrived. We had no idea some of them would not make it. At 12:30, we had only lost a handful of kids out of 6 classes. We all started to worry. Our director and another teacher had left on the buses to pick the kids up from school. They had to abandon the buses and walk back to the school with the few kids they were able to pick up. This whole situation was becoming a nightmare! I called Robert to see if he could come get Bryson since I couldn't leave and he was stuck getting off our exit. He had already been on the road for 3 hours of what was supposed to only take him an hour and a half. He told me how bad it was but I really had no idea! We had a few teachers try to leave, but they quickly came back because traffic was not moving. A few more parents came but by 3:00 we still had about 45 kids between our 6 classes. I had a feeling we were all going to be staying the night. Thankfully a few more left but the office was starting to get calls that some parents were not going to be able to make it to pick up their kids that day and that they would be spending the night at school. I was heartbroken. I cannot imagine being stranded and not being able to make it to Bryson. Thankfully he goes to the school I work at so if we had to stay the night, at least I was with him. Robert called me around 3:30 and said he had finally made it home! What should have only taken an hour and a half took him 6 hours! We were finally getting lower on kids and I was thinking it was time for me and Bryson to go. Several other teachers knew they couldn't leave because they lived so far away, but since we live less than 5 minutes from work, I didn't think it would be a big deal. I went up to the office to tell them the total number of kids and teachers and got the OK to go if I wanted to. I looked out the front door. The parking lot was iced over, people were walking on the streets and parents were pulling up on 4-wheelers to pick up there kids. I knew there was no way I could drive in it. I called Robert and asked him if he thought he could come get us and drive us home. He said he would try. He had to abandon our car not far from our house and walk to our school. He brought a back pack with blankets, extra shoes, extra scarves, hats, and my glasses in case we had to stay the night. When he got there, he said he did not feel safe driving and that if we wanted to leave, we would have to walk home. I was not OK with that. I was not wearing the right shoes to walk home in an ice storm and I did not want Bryson to walk home in it. Not only that there were still a lot of kids at the school and I just couldn't leave my co-worker with all those kids. It just didn't seem right.

 Our playground was beautiful!

 

Most of these kids had to spend the night at school. 

Around 5:30 pm, we had lost a few more kids. I felt better about leaving my co-worker at that point so we decided to head home. I was a nervous wreck. Worst case, we are only 5 minutes from the school. If we had to abandon our car, it was not a long walk. I still did not want to walk it or wreck our car. It was a scary drive and it took us about 30 minutes but we made it home safely!!!

 

This was an abandoned car we passed on the way home. The writing on the window pretty much sums up the situation. People were leaving their cars and walking everywhere!

Once we were home safely, I called all of our family to make sure everybody was safe. My dad had made it home safely, my mom and aunt were going to have to spend the night at our church, both of Robert's sisters were home safely, Robert's mom was having to spend the night at the hospital, Martha and Will were going to have to spend the night at their church, and Robbie was stuck somewhere on I-65. Before he left work, him and few co-workers walked out to Valleydale from his office in Riverchase to see how the traffic was. From what he could tell, the interstate traffic was moving. He was closer to Martha and Will at their church then he was to their house in Helena so he decided to go to them at their church off Acton Road. Not too long after he got on the interstate, he bumped into a guardrail and traffic was stopped. He sat their for a few hours but realized his options were to sleep in his car for the night or abandon his car on the side of interstate and walk to the church. He noticed other people abandoning their cars, so he did too. He walked up I-65 to Rocky Ridge road and after falling a few times, safely made it to his church. He walked for I think 2 hours in the cold ice and snow. He called me on his way and I could tell he was tired and cold. I stayed on the phone with him until I knew he made it to the church safely. Martha said they had about 100 people that came to their church to stay the night because they were stranded. I stayed up watching the news and was shocked at what I saw. I really had no idea just how bad it was until I got a chance to sit down and look at the pictures on the news. Everywhere in our area, people were abandoning their cars and walking. People were having to sleep in their cars, sleep in their offices, and kids were having to spend the night at school. Ambulances and police cars were also stranded and unable to help people.
The next morning, all schools and businesses were closed so we were able to enjoy the snow! Bryson loved it at first. He made a snow angel and we tried to make a snowman, but the snow was too powdery for us to make one. We did collect enough snow to make 2 batches of snow cream! It was delicious. Later in the afternoon, we got word that schools were closed again the next day. The temperature on the 29th never got above freezing so nothing melted  and what little bit did, quickly refroze once the sun went down. Robbie and Martha were able to make it home that day, but my mom and Aunt Evelyn had to spend the night in the church again and Robert's mom had to stay at the hospital. It just wasn't safe for them to try to make it home.

 Me and Bryson enjoying the snow.

 This is when he started to get cold!

 Icicles hanging off the car.

 He was over it at this point. It was cold!

 He found his favorite rock in the snow!

 He kept eating the snow.

 He loved making a snow angel.

 Our first batch of snow cream.

Bryson wanted chocolate syrup with the second batch.

Schools were closed again on the 30th, but Robert had to go to work. We still had not picked up his car, so we carefully headed out to get it. Once we got to it, it was covered in icicles! After he headed out, we decided to try and venture out around Helena and see just how bad it was. There were still cars abandoned and big patches of ice. We didn't go far because we didn't want to wreck so we quickly headed back home until it started to melt. Around noon, the temperature finally got above freezing and the roads started to improve. I took Bryson to play with Will and me and Robbie headed to I-65 to get his car. Thankfully it was there in one piece. Once we got it and headed back home, I wanted to stop and get a coffee at Starbucks. Big mistake. There were so many icy patches on the way there and home from there. Thankfully I didn't wreck, but I did slide some. I was curious if schools would be closed again because some of the roads were still bad. Shelby county did, but since Helena wasn't too bad, we opened. It was a pretty easy day since we didn't have many kids and since I get off at 2:30 anyway, it wasn't too bad, especially since we didn't open until 10:30.

 Our driveway on the 3rd day.

 Icicles were still hanging from Robert's car.

 The road in front of our school was still iced over. 

 Cars were still abandoned.

School buses were still abandoned.

 This was definitely an event that we will always remember. The south got a lot of criticism from the north about how silly it was that we shut down for days because of a few inches of snow. What people up north do not realize is that the south does not get weather like this, so we are not prepared for these types of events. Not only that, but the forecast was completely wrong. We were only predicted to get a dusting and we ended up with a few inches. Also, the roads were iced with snow on top and due to the super cold temperatures, nothing would melt. We had a very cold winter with many days of lows in the single digits. Our weather does not get that cold and if it does, it does not last for days. The ground temperatures were a lot colder during this event then in years past. We had another small event in February and everybody learned their lesson. The schools were prepared, businesses were prepared, and the city was prepared. We got more snow during that event, but since we were prepared, the city did not shut down.
Here's a few pictures from the area for our out of town family.

 This is Riverchase Parkway, where Robbie works.