DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 5:39 p.m. March 02, 2009
Power being restored; airport back to normal
Warmer weather on the way with highs Wednesday in the 70s
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, March 02, 2009
Power crews worked to restore service to about 48,000 northeast Georgians on Monday, but continued to be hampered by falling tree limbs.
However most evidence of Sunday’s snowstorms was melting quickly on the day after.
Vino Wong/vwong@ajc.com
Icy patches made driving a hazard Monday along the corner of Scenic Highway and Scenic Pines Drive in Lawrencevile
| Cherokee Co. | trace |
| Clarke Co. | 5 inches |
| Clayton Co. | 2 inches |
| Cobb Co. | 1.5 inches |
| Coweta Co. | 2 inches |
| DeKalb Co. | 1.5 inches |
| Douglas Co. | 4 inches |
| Fayette Co. | 2 inches |
| Hall Co. (southern part) | 5 inches |
| Henry Co. | 3 inches |
| Fulton Co. | 1.5 inches |
| Forsyth Co. | trace |
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Icy patches posed a hazard on some roads early Monday, but by midday rising temperatures and bright sunshine made them disappear.
Nearly all of the lingering power outages were in the Athens area, which got 5 to 6 inches of snow.
The University of Georgia canceled classes Monday and university leaders didn’t know if classes would resume Tuesday. Dorm residents said they still had power — and some said they needed the day off to get back to the books for this week’s midterm exams.
“I’m starting to get some work done,” said Mason Locke, a 20-year-old majoring in biotechnology and food science. “My snow day was yesterday when everyone went out and played in the fluff.”
Utility spokesmen were still working to restore power in northeast Georgia Monday evening and expected to work throughout the night.
The hardest hit areas were east of metro Atlanta where the highest totals of Sunday’s heavy, wet snow were recorded.
The City of Atlanta said its crews responded to calls of 46 trees down and had cleaned up more than half of them by midday Monday.
By mid-afternoon Monday, things were pretty much back to normal at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Delta Air Lines, already dealing with the aftermath of mass cancellations on Sunday, canceled many Monday flights to Philadelphia, New York, Washington and other northeast cities as the same weather system that socked Atlanta moved up the eastern seaboard.
Delta spokesman Kent Landers said by Monday afternoon that traffic at Hartsfield was back to normal with a few delays in the Northeast.
Travelers headed up the East Coast, should still check their flight information for delays. Landers said Delta allowed customers throughout the day to reschedule their flights without any fees.
Earlier Monday, Hartsfield-Jackson’s atrium was crowded with delayed fliers draped across chairs and sitting on the floor. Bleary-eyed customers whose flights were canceled Sunday joined the Monday morning crowd in the ticketing areas.
Delta had canceled 300 round-trips Sunday, most of them in or out of its Atlanta hub. AirTran canceled 130 flights.
Among those encamped in the atrium overnight: Fred Grecco, 73, of Ripley, Tenn., who was flying home from a Caribbean vacation with his wife and another couple but arrived late in Atlanta and missed a connecting flight.
Then things got worse, he said. Delta gave the couples vouchers to a hotel but a cabbie took them to the wrong one.
“The room stunk and the bathroom was moldy, with people wandering in and out,” he said. They were so concerned they called a policeman who confirmed they were in the wrong place. They decided to go back to Hartsfield-Jackson and spend the night there.
“I’m not flying anywhere anymore unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Grecco said Monday morning as his group waited for an afternoon flight. “Next time I go on vacation I’m taking a boat.”
Both Delta and AirTran offered no-fee changes to flights to accommodate passengers affected by the weather.
Fliers were advised to check on their flights at Delta, 1-800-325-1999 and www.delta.com; AirTran, 1-800-247-8726 or 678-254-7999 and www.airtran.com; and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport at www.atlanta-airport.com.
School systems closed on Monday included DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Clayton, Coweta, Fayette, Rockdale and Newton counties, as well as the cities of Atlanta and Decatur.
The mercury climbed above freezing by noon in Atlanta, and it was expected to reach the low 40s under sunny skies Monday afternoon. A low in the low 20s is forecast Monday night.
Tuesday will be sunny, with highs in the upper 40s and lows in the mid-20s.
A warm-up begins Wednesday, with highs reaching the low 70s by the end of the week.
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