Loretta and James Cantrell were all smiles Tuesday morning as they walked along the deserted streets of Helen amid a thick flurry of snowflakes.
“I love it,” said Loretta Cantrell, before she was reminded about the nearly two weeks she went without electricity following the Blizzard of ‘93. And the 30 inches of snow that fell in Helen on March 2, 1982.
“That’s the fear you have about it,” said the 75-year-old White County native. “It’s beautiful today, but I don’t want to think about being without power for a long time.”
Helen residents may be among the luckier ones. Though the area received nearly three inches of snow Tuesday morning through about 2 p.m., the temperatures remained largely above freezing, leaving most roads passable.
Though not many people appeared willing to risk it, hunkering down in their homes and hoping Tuesday night brought snow more than sleet. The National Weather Service predicted a mix of both overnight but only snow on Wednesday, with another 6 inches of accumulation possible.
Tuesday’s snowfall proved too much to handle for at least two hikers along the Appalachian Trail, who were transported to local motels by Georgia Department of Natural Resources wildlife technician Scott Bardenwerper. He encountered them along the Unicoi Gap, rated as one of the roughest stretches of the Georgia to Maine trail.
“We’re just looking for people along the trail, or stranded motorists, just trying to help out the sheriff’s department,” Bardenwerper said.
Chief Deputy Bob Ingram of the White County Sheriff’s Department said the plan is to stay ahead of the storm, though if there’s significant freezing overnight no amount of planning will help.
Further north, the state Department of Transportation made an early call to close the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway, which connects White and Union counties.
Trucker Gary Allen, 47. was lucky to be heading in the other direction as he departed from a Helen motel early Tuesday morning with a haul of fresh produce and three stops to make.
“As long as I can beat the ice, I’ll be okay,” said Allen, who never had to worry about such things in his native Jamaica.
But he was smack dab in the middle of the storm that hit metro Atlanta two weeks ago. Allen, who lives in Austell, was among those stranded on Atlanta’s interstates, spending one night and much of the following morning in his 18-wheeler on I-20 east of Six Flags.
He steered clear of the interstates on Tuesday, with plans to spend the night in Dawsonville. Anywhere but his truck.
Allen had the curvy mountain roads mostly to himself through the day, and state and county Department of Transportation trucks, spreading a mix of salt and rock, kept them largely passable.
“Hopefully they’re prepared this time,” Allen said. “But that’s what they said the last time.”
Forecasters say Helen, located about 88 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta, could receive as much as 9 inches of snow through Wednesday. Areas to the north could get even more.
That’s where Helen Police Sgt. Phillip Wood lives, in Hiawassee. He said the drive along state route 75 was already treacherous Tuesday morning.
“Just pray there is no ice,” said Wood, who then recounted the 8 days he went without power during the ‘93 Blizzard. “Don’t want to go through that again.
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