Slipping Away on a Snow Day

Brrrrrrrrr! It has been a cold couple of days! I am out of school for the snow day, and luckily I'm one of the few that made it home before the roads iced over!  Before the snow got too severe, I was just playing around in the snow. I made a snow angel and threw a few snowballs, but soon I realized I needed to get home to get some warmer clothes. By the time I got on the road to get home, the interstate was at a standstill. It took me two hours to get home, but I was lucky! Some of my friends had to sleep at work and some stayed in traffic from 4-12 hours! I will not be complaining about traffic ever again. When I was on my way home, I saw people stop their cars on the side of the road and they decided to walk home. That's when I knew the weather was really, really bad.

Here I am before the snow really started to pile up!

Here I am after sitting in traffic for two hours! You couldn't even see the road because the snow was so piled up. 

I kept up with the news and tweets about what seemed like a blizzard outside, so I decided to check out what Birmingham looks like up close. Fortunately, I know a firefighter who was willing to drive me safely around the city to inform everyone about the damage that has occurred around different parts of Birmingham. Tons of people were left stranded on the road, and some even had to sleep in their cars. There were tons of wrecks, and children were stuck at schools where some brave teachers stayed with them to keep them safe! 

Here are some photographs I took when the firefighter took me around Birmingham to look at what had happened.

This is a photo of Highway 31. Most people had abandoned their cars here and found shelter somewhere else. Some cars had slid into ditches on this road! It was very scary!

Here is a wreck next to the Brookwood hospital. I guess there was nothing that the owners of these cars could do, so they will have to get their cars later. This is a good example of why you should not drive out in the snow or ice! It is way too slippery!

Greensprings Highway turned into a parking lot overnight because people could not get up the hill! I hope that these people were able to make it home safely!!

Despite all of the damage that I have witnessed, I have heard about many great acts of kindness that happened during this weather emergency. People took strangers into their homes for shelter. Some folks rescued people that were stuck on the road. It is amazing the strength and kindness people have shown during this unexpected weather occurrence. I hope that people will remember to still show such kindness every day! I have heard a lot of people from other places say that it is silly that such weather would cause a whole city to shut down when other places get much more snow. I am going to stand on my flat soap box for a minute- Most people who live in Alabama are not prepared for these weather conditions. People do not have chains for their tires, there are not salt trucks to melt ice on the roads, and people here do not know how drive safely in the ice and snow because we are not used to these extreme weather conditions. Okay, I am off of my soap box now. From this experience, I think we should all learn to be more aware of and prepared for emergency situations. Here is a link to the Red Cross website for tips on how to make an emergency kit: http://www.redcross.org/prepare/location/home-family/get-kit . You can never be too prepared for a disaster! 

Once I got back home safe and sound from my ride around town, I made a snowman named Herman. He looks kind of angry but I think he's just cold. It was pretty chilly outside, so I decided to stay inside for the rest of the night. I hope that this post has encouraged all of you readers to lend a helping hand to people in need and to also always be safe!