Two inches of snowfall in Atlanta yesterday basically shut down the city.
Look.. This is how #TheWalkingDead got started. #Atlanta #SnowedOutAtlanta @EMMY4AU
I-75 in metro #Atlanta is gridlock. This is what an inch of snow will do in the south! #ATLsnow
Schools and offices closed around 1:30 p.m., sending hundreds of thousands of people on the roads at the same time.
O boy RT @11AliveNews: Trucks stacked up on I-285 WB near Roswell Road north of #Atlanta #SnowJam2014
After snow began to fall around noon, schools and offices shut down and thousands of people hit the roads at the same time, causing intense traffic. Salt and sand trucks could not be deployed because of the gridlock, causing even worse conditions and icy roads. Some apparently left their cars on the interstate to walk home or to nearby shelters.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Wednesday that he's "not going to play the blame game," but admits his greatest error in managing the storm response was letting everybody out at the same time, creating gridlock in the city. Reed said at a press conference Wednesday if he had to do it over, he would have let schools go first, then private sector workers, and then government employees, rather than all at once.
CBS Atlanta producer Aaron Rashaan sent this picture of I-20 just after 9 PM. He's still there. It's 12:18 AM.
There were reports of 791 accidents.
New aerial photos from Atlanta's #Gridlock http://t.co/6ZkeEDDwqG
A woman even gave birth to a baby girl in her car on the side of the road.
'It was beautiful': Baby born on Atlanta-area roadside during snowstorm http://t.co/3t4bZeqSUn
Police officer Tim Sheffield was responding to an accident Tuesday when he spotted a car on the side of the highway and stopped to check on it, NBC reports. Inside he found a couple with their two daughters.
"I asked the dad, 'Are you all broke down?'" Sheffield told TODAY's Savannah Guthrie on Wednesday. "He goes, 'No, we're having a baby.'"
The birth was completely natural. "It was beautiful," Sheffield said.
The girl was born at about 5:20 p.m. An ambulance arrived shortly after the birth, and took the family to a hospital.
She has arrived at @cbsatl! @stephanyfisher is in the building 7.5 hours after leaving home for work today. #gawx
The situation was so dire that thousands of stranded motorists took refuge in stores on the side of the highway. This Atlanta-area Home Depot opened its doors to stragglers.
An Atlanta-area Home Depot opened its doors overnight, letting stranded motorists sleep inside (via @DuffieDixon)
There were photographs of people sleeping in Publix, CVS, and more.
Stranded drivers sleeping on floor of Publix grocery store in Atlanta http://t.co/KrJDvkl1af
People sleeping in CVS early this morning in Atlanta, using maxi pads as pillows.
MT @TWCBreaking: Stranded motorists sleeping in the aisles of stores in Atlanta. Photo via @JaimeSarrio @ajc. #Leon
Schools originally said they would have students home by 8:00 p.m., but by 8:30 p.m., it because clear that schools in the northern part of the state could not get buses safely to the schools.
@AJC Look at Atlanta Public Schools kids walking to a mile to get their buses. This is horrible.
One bus that picked up 200 students from the Hoover CIty School District was stranded on the interstate, and students were sent to shelters for the night, WVTV reports.
A state of emergency "shelter in place" was issued by the Atlanta school system Tuesday night for all students and staff to stay in schools.
Eight Atlanta schools had students spend the night. At E. Rivers Elementary school, about 100 students aged 5–11 slept in the school's gymnasium.
Roughy 100 children sleeping on gym mats at E. Rivers Elementary in #Atlanta. Ages 5-11. #atlsnow
These kids in Atlanta are waking up at school, where snow has stranded them
Teachers and parents alike were critical of how schools handled the snow and ice storm.
@abcnews Atlanta schools totally dropped the ball today. I'm a Teacher and very happy to talk anout how bad it was.
One brave dad trekked 6 miles through the snow to sleep with his daughter who was stranded at her school after the storm.
Dad walked six miles to sleep with daughter who was stranded at E. Rivers Elementary after storm. #atlsnow #Atlanta.
A lot of the kids were understandably scared.
But by Wednesday morning, some kids seemed perfectly happy, and played in the snow together.
Children engage in snow ball fight at E. Rivers Elementary after spending night at school. #atlsnow #Atlanta
At Keheley Elementary School on Kemp Road in east Cobb County, all students have left except for two, whose parents haven't been able to reach the school, Access Atlanta reports.
Principal Liz Jackson alone stayed behind to care for them.
"We've done movies, we've done games, we've done snacks," she said. "The cafeteria manager called and told us where to find food."
Hundreds of cars are still abandoned.
Abandoned cars in the snow on an Atlanta roadway this morning (photo: @11AliveNews)
Mayor Reed said the next priority is to get people out of their stranded cars and to clear the roads. At least one person is dead and over 100 hurt from car accidents.
Screenshot from CNN of a stranded car on fire in Georgia
Updated — 5:20 p.m. ET: All Atlanta school children made it home, and schools announced they would be closed Thursday.
CNN: All Atlanta school children have been transported out the schools and heading home. Atl schools will be closed tomorrow.