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RE :”I packed appropriate gear, just incase.”

In the snow months ~ December to March here I keep the boots, heavy winter coat, hat and gloves in my car for emergencies as I regularly drive in snow.

Dealing with other Maryland drivers in winter weather is an adventure.

On my phone I have a free app called WAZE nav function with voice map directions and on the spot reporting of traffic, accidents, police, traffic fine cameras.

Its great for leaving the highway at night onto side roads I am not familiar with, to get out of traffic.

Here in Maryland the schools would have closed that morning.

It was a poor response by the locals, no doubt. By that I mean both local residents and officials. Although, I will say that much of weather broadcasting earlier in the week emphasized that the worst part of the storm would be south of atlanta which, in all fairness, it was. I saw much worse conditions 60 miles or so south. Macon had probably 2x the snowfall.

Like you, I keep "get home" supplies in my vehicle most of the time. Its just rare that snow/ice is the obstacle keeping me from getting home. Its usually 105 degree weather, and an IFAK and some electrolytes will take care of you. I had the advantage of a few days notice. I parked the company vehicle and pulled the back seat out of my wrangler unlimited (made enough room to sleep in). Had my ILBE pack stuffed with a surplus down sleeping bag with the wool outer layer, coupled with a goretex bivy sack. had appropriate clothes etc, along with esbit stove/sterno and my aluminum can ethanol stove. Hung business clothes in the back. Arrived at the Marriott Renaissance ( the one you can see from the runway at Hartsfield), drove up to the valet and checked my ILBE pack, then drove to a corner of the parking lot and changed into my suit in the jeep. Carried my weapon in my briefcase, got finished with my 1 hour meeting, and repeated the process in reverse. ( I did, in fact, get a few interesting looks as I walked out of the hotel in my suit with my ILBE on my back) I took the airport loop to grant parkway, made a right on US19 and didnt stop until I hit Leesburg. It was honestly one of the most pleasant drives to Atl i have ever had. No traffic, pretty scenery....I just felt bad for the poor folks who were stuck. To reiterate what someone mentioned earlier in the thread, a little preparation goes a long, long way. Its hard to see how many people were affected so seriously by this and not have a little bit of prepper in you. And this was a forseen event. Imagine what it would look like if it had been a complete shock.

Thanks for the heads up on the WAZE app- I'll check that out