When we have inclement weather here in Georgia such as a tropical storm like now or snow it is normal that basically everything shuts down. We just dealt with a tropical storm which is the after-effects of Hurricane Irma hitting Florida. There were some fallen trees that caused damage to homes and people lost their lives. Whenever we are faced with inclement weather and Georgia shuts down we are always asked why. Usually Georgia is pretty sunny and while it gets cold it doesn’t get cold enough often for us to deal with consistent snow and ice. Plus, when it rains, the infrastructure can never deal with it. I know so many people who have had to invest in basement waterproofing, flood defences, and water damage repair after storms have caused significant damage to their homes. It is just the amount of hurricanes and tropical storms that the state of Georgia goes through that makes it relatively difficult for the people who have to constantly rebuild. They keep on renovating by making home improvements like installing hurricane windows (you can look at sites like https://www.riotglass.com/hurricane-categories-damage/ for reference) and similar upgrades.
Since social media has come into play it is almost guaranteed that you will see posts from people who have not grown up here complaining. A majority of the posts are filled with how they went to school in 10 feet of snow. These are people who are mainly from up north. While I understand the frustration it can kind of being annoying. There are reasons why we shut down, down here. Maybe this post will help them understand. Here are reasons why we choose to shut down:
- Safety- This basically goes without saying. We pretty much would prefer to safe at home with our families rather than out in the weather.
- Trees- Being that we live in the south we have a lot of trees and country roads over here. These trees are thousands of years old. Since a majority of Georgia has trees, it is really dangerous. We are dealing with a tropical storm now and there are news reports filled with fallen trees that damaged houses all over the area. Of course, affected houses can get help from a commercial roofer to bring them back to life, however, the same cannot apply for a human getting injured by these trees obviously.
- Road conditions- During inclement weather here in Georgia road conditions can be horrible. I know yesterday when we ventured out to check on a family member. All the street lights were out. Roads can be very slick whether it’s snow or rain. Plus Georgia has a lot of hills so that makes the roads even more dangerous. Not only on expressways but also on residential roads. I don’t know if you all remember Snowmageddon back in 2014 when thousands of people were stuck on the road.
- Flooding- With just heavy rain certain parts of Georgia can flood. With a tropical storm, it is 10 times worse. Which goes back to my previous mention of the road conditions. Not to mention, flooding can seep into the homes of people, causing water damage which can be a hassle to treat. If the damage is not treated by a water and mold restoration company soon after the damage has occurred, it can lead to the infestation of mold in the house.
- No people, no business- Businesses shut down because of course if people are at home then there is no money coming in. They want to be with their families and also want their employees to be safe as well. So why should businesses stay open.
- We are not equipped- Let me put things in perspective for you. We haven’t had a tropical storm since 1995 if memory serves me correctly and we haven’t had a big snow storm since 2014. Because of this we do not purchase the equipment that states up north would because we don’t get snow every year and we definitely don’t get tropical storms every year. So buying equipment for something that happens every few years is unnecessary.
I hope these reasons help some people to understand Georgia and other southern states a little better. There are many factors that go into the decision to shut down the state, schools, and businesses. Weather is not anything to play with. So we prefer to be safe. But we do the best that we can.
Nicole Brewer says
My mom and sisters are in Georgia. My sister is a teacher and was just posting about being off work, obviously due to these things. Glad they take extra precautions in these weather conditions.
Kgilbert says
Yes cause you never know about the weather down here. They just want to make sure everyone is safe.
Camesha | Mama Motivator says
Being from Michigan, I’d totally be one of the people that didn’t get it. LOL! You make some good points though.
Camesha | Mama Motivator recently posted…When was the last time you had a first time?
Kgilbert says
I definitely appreciate you stopping by.
Kim says
I remember being in Atlanta during New Year’s Eve one year and it snowed. There was a whisper of snow and bit of frost on the ground, and people didn’t know what to do. As a New Yorker, I could not understand it.
Kgilbert says
It’s more of the black ice being down here and how difficult it makes driving. We don’t have the same amount of equipment that you all have up north.