JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
From wildfires in California to winter weather across the South. Winter Storm Cora has been dumping snow in areas that just aren't used to it. It's caused traffic problems, power outages and a lot of cancellations - schools, flights. With us now from Atlanta is Rahul Bali of WABE. Hi there.
RAHUL BALI, BYLINE: Hey.
SUMMERS: So, Rahul, tell us what it's like where you are. What have you been dealing with today?
BALI: You know, Juana, for days, emergency officials warn folks, stay home. Stay off the road, starting this morning. And generally, most people have. The vast majority of schools, businesses, government offices are closed. There still have been some issues on the roads in North Georgia. You know, for those who tried to brave the slick roads, the biggest danger has been spinouts. You know, I've seen law enforcement posting pictures of some of those crashes in the hopes that people will stay off the roads. There was a major accident this morning involving eight tractor trailers on an interstate interchange curve. I've driven it. It's tough even when it's dry. There's also been challenges for airports across the South, including here in Atlanta. According to FlightAware, there's already been 1,000 flight cancellations here. That's approaching half the scheduled flights at the world's busiest airport. There's also been ground stops at the Atlanta Airport. This is going to have ripple effects across the country. Remember; Delta has a hub here. It's also a key city for other airlines like Southwest.
SUMMERS: Right. Well, we've been hearing officials saying that they have been well-prepared for the storm in Georgia. Tell us what they did to get ready.
BALI: So officials and even some journalists have been reminding folks of the infamous 2014 winter storm. Around here, it's nicknamed Snowmageddon. Thousands of people ended up stranded on Atlanta highways and streets as the slick roads froze right under their cars. People abandoned their cars, walked along the highways. During a press conference of state leaders today before reporters could even ask, the head of emergency management in Georgia, Chris Stallings, compared what is happening now to then.
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CHRIS STALLINGS: The biggest thing is that we have learned a lot of lessons, so we've stayed in front of it. We've not allowed the disabled vehicles to stay stranded on the roadway. We are getting reports of those, but we're being extremely proactive to ensure that we're getting those out of the way.
BALI: And, again, it's really been about seeing spin-outs and just - but just only a handful of cars stuck on the side of the road.
SUMMERS: I understand that temperatures are expected to drop again into the evening. So tell us what officials are looking out for. I presume ice might be an issue.
BALI: This is really all about what happens to the snow that's on the ground, on cars, on any kind of surface. Georgia governor Brian Kemp during that same press conference - he called it a fine line as temperatures have hovered around 32 degrees all day.
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BRIAN KEMP: If it ends up being 31 degrees and it's freezing rain or sleeting, it could cause huge problems on our roadways but also with power outages.
BALI: And this winter storm has caused power outages across the South. Arkansas had at least 34,000 today - sporadic outages in Texas and in other states.
SUMMERS: I imagine that snow is rare in Atlanta, and I can't help thinking about the kids with those schools closed all day. What have these kids been out there doing?
BALI: So our family heeded the warnings. We've all stayed home. And I live on one of the steeper hills in my neighborhood. So kids and adults have been sledding down the street on whatever they can. And you might hear that in the background. You know, we don't get much snow here, so we don't have snowboards. We don't have snow tubes. Basically, people like my kids were using things from the swimming pool like floats and inner tubes to slide down the hill because that's all we had.
SUMMERS: Sounds like fun. That's Rahul Bali with WABE in Atlanta. Thank you.
BALI: No problem. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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