...all the details of Birmingham Snowpocalypse 2014 I decided I better get it all written down. Tuesday, January 28 started like all other days. I watched the weather as I got ready for work and the last thing the weather girl said was, "we really do not anticipate much snow or any travel issues in the Metro area."
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| Front of the school as I started to walk out |
Ok then, case closed. No chance of getting out of school early, nothing to report here. Usual day. I did however, by the grace of God, make a series of unusual decisions before I left that ended up saving my tail later. I decided to wear my boots instead of the flats I had originally planned. My classroom has been cold lately, so I figured I would spare my feet the misery. Good decision number 1. I also grabbed a coat before I walked out the door. I don't usually take one because I end up forgetting it at the end of the day. Good decision number 2. And finally I had packed a legitimate lunch the night before...turkey sandwich, chips and guacamole, an apple, AND oreos. I never, ever pack a lunch so complete. It's usually whatever randomness is leftover in the fridge. Good decision number 3.
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| Let's hope my car is in the same spot when I go back to get it. |
I noticed in my car that the thermometer said 28 so I thought definitely no excitement today because it will only get warmer. Wrong! I got to work on time and made it to a 7:45 meeting. Someone there mentioned the possibility of getting out of school early for snow but we totally blew it off. I went about my business first period of getting things ready, making copies, and straightening up my room all while watching the Today Show (yes, thank you, cable in the classroom). When they cut to the local weather, I noticed that the radar showed the snow bands a little more north than originally forecast, but again, I paid no attention. By the time my second period class showed up at 9:30 some of the kids were saying it was snowing outside. Freshmen tend to overreact so I just went right ahead with class. Notes on patterns of heredity, if you're curious. That class came and went and by the time third period showed up, I ran across the hall to the restroom and the snow was really coming down and starting to stick. I decided in an effort to keep the peace I would not mention it and keep on keeping on with class. That worked for a while until the first kid got the text message from the school at 10:45 that we were dismissing at 11:30. That was quickly followed by an announcement from the principal. Well, things began to get exciting from here. We attempted to feed all 2000 students in 12 minute intervals for the next 45 minutes. Craziness!
Conditions outside continued to deteriorate rather quickly from this point. At 11:30 lots of our kids left on foot to walk home. But many were left at school to wait on a parent or carpool. As time went on, no one could drive down the hill to the school so parents resorted to coming on foot or by ATV. Around 2:30 we took the remaining kids to the auditorium (about 200 at this point) and the faculty met in the lobby. We were told if we could get out on foot we were welcome to leave at 3:00 pm so I began to devise a plan. I called a friend who teaches at the elementary school in the neighborhood. She found herself in the same predicament. Fortunately her parents live about halfway between our two schools so we decided to start walking and meet there. She was bringing a co-worker with her. It was about a mile and a half walk (or snowy hike) for both of us. We ended up at her parents around 4:30. Along the way there were stranded cars everywhere and people trying to walk home. Roughly 200 students, teachers, and stranded parents did end up spending the night at my school along with hundreds others throughout our district. I am eternally grateful I had somewhere to go!
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| Freezing friends on the walk |
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| Abandoned cars in the neighborhood |
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| More abandoned cars |
In the scheme of things, I was very fortunate to have a relatively short walk to safety and a warm place to stay with fun friends. We spent the rest of Tuesday night making sure all of our friends were home or at least safe at work and watched the chaos unfold on TV. Wednesday morning, my friend's co-worker's husband was able to come rescue us for the trek back to Homewood. However, that was not without it's own snowy hike. We walked about another mile and a half to the highway where he picked us up and we slid down the hill back into town. I have never been so happy to see my house! My car is still at school and I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about retrieving it this afternoon. Stay tuned for that search and rescue mission...
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| That's a brick mailbox under the back of that car. |
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| Made it HOME!! |
Like I said on Tuesday, snow days are so fun in theory, and so not fun in execution. I am thankful for provision, friends, and safety, but honestly I'm ready for July! Bring on another hot Alabama summer. It's time.
