ATLANTA — Snow flurries on Tuesday wreaked havoc on Atlanta roads, paralyzing the city.
Snow flurries started to fall around noon, and by 1 p.m. reports of massive gridlock on the city’s roadways were prevalent. The city of Atlanta said it would plow roads starting with the busiest thoroughfares followed by secondary roads.
Businesses, churches, government offices and schools closed early, sending people by the thousands to an early commute. The commute, which can be frustrating on a good day, quickly turned unbearable to many.
Motorists reported spending hours in their cars to drive short distances. Their frustration was apparent, judging by the level of honking along.
“People are panicking trying to get home and it’s causing worse problems,” ajc.com quoted Karlene Barron, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Transportation, as saying.
While the metro area and much of the state may only seem small amounts of snow, ice may cause more problems overnight and in the morning.
“The snowfall amounts are going to matter very little in this situation because of the ice potential,” The Associated Press quoted Jason Deese, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Peachtree City, as saying. “Some parts of the state may end up seeing the greatest impact just because they get more ice than snow.”