Ice

The Southeast US is getting hit by another terrible storm care of this endless Fuckwinter:

After icing parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, a winter storm arrived Wednesday in Georgia, dropping a mix of ice and rain that was expected to continue pelting the Southeast into Thursday.

Up to three-quarters of an inch of ice was expected to accumulate on Atlanta and up to 10 inches of snow and sleet on Charlotte, North Carolina, making travel treacherous.

Area residents had heeded ample warnings issued by forecasters, emptying grocery store shelves, filling up their tanks with gas and filling their trunks with salt.

...National Weather Service forecasters say the storm -- packed with sleet, snow, rain and ice -- is a potentially "catastrophic event."

"This is one of Mother Nature's worst kinds of storms that can be inflicted on the South," Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal told reporters Tuesday afternoon. "That is ice. It is our biggest enemy."

...Sleet and freezing rain began falling across Georgia early Wednesday, causing scattered power outages -- nearly 30,000, according to a tally from a Georgia Power map. Georgia Power, the state's largest utility, warned that hundreds of thousands of customers could be without electricity "for days."

...Twenty-two states -- from Louisiana to Maine -- are under winter advisories.

"Widespread and extended power outages are likely as ice accumulates on trees and power lines and brings them down," the warning says. "Please prepare to be without power in some locations for days and perhaps as long as a week."

Roads canted for rain runoff are ill-suited for icy travel, and treacherous roads means higher risks for accidents causing injury or death. Stay home if you can.

I have a few friends in Georgia, who work in fields as disparate as retail and academia, and thankfully most of their employers are telling them to stay home. Not every employer will prioritize safety, though—and of course the municipal workers who are working to make travel safe are working above and beyond.

This storm will be moving north along the East Coast later in the week. I wish warmth and safety to those in its path.