By SAM ELDRIDGE

Contributing Writer

This past winter has been one of the strangest and most extreme bouts of severe weather. It’s almost as if there is someone flipping a switch to turn the cold off and on, dry or wet, snow or ice. While this weather does cause for some concern all across the nation, the South is in a very unfamiliar situation indeed. 

Atlanta hasn’t experienced weather like this in decades. According to The Weather Channel, there were 147 cars left on the roads from the icy conditions. The roads were so dangerous that drivers would rather leave their cars behind walk or “ice skate” to a safer location. But should citizens of Atlanta and residents of Georgia be made fun of in their moment of panic?

If you live in the very Southeast of a country that experiences temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit for the better part of the year, why is there any need to prepare for such an unpredicted climate event? The amount of content on different forms of media that seem to be poking fun at Southerners is uncomfortably high. There’s no plan for storms of such magnitude because it rarely snows once a year, let alone a named winter polar vortex. 

Leaving out the jokes and witty observations, this is a serious matter that needs to be acknowledged by the organizations in charge of pulling people out on the road for their jobs or school. If transportation is obstructed by the weather, then there needs to be a system to follow that keeps citizens and employees safe, not sprawling on the sides of the road or in ditches because they skid on the ice.