Score Al Roker ... Bad Call by Mayor of NY. Sun out in NC.. Augusta Digs Out from the Ice Storm of 2014.

That's a picture of my friend's house in Augusta.. before it got worse... It got worse. Parts of Georgia look like North Carolina looked after Hurricane Fran brought down the pine trees far inland from the beaches where it made landfall. She posted that picture with the caption "Looks like a bomb went off!!" 

http://m.chronicle.augusta.com/news/government/2014-02-13/augusta-hardest-hit-statewide-power-outages

The Governor of North Carolina thanked the NWS for the excellent job they did in forecasting this unique winter storm.

"Unique" is a good word for this Snow Storm and Ice Storm which offered a little bit of every type of  winter weather imaginable short of a melting glacier sliding down the Mississippi River. And, have to say as crazy as the forecast was... they got it right down to each odd type of winter precipitation that fell on Thursday.

The storm that affected a good swath of the country known as "PAX" if you watch TWC brought out the best and the worst of the people who work for the government.

After being finished with his job... he noticed a lady having problems navigating through the icy street and helped her... amazing, good example of the heart and soul of firemen doing their job... going beyond the call of duty because they have a heart and a soul underneath their uniforms.

That's a dogwood tree hanging low onto the deck. The usual landing pad for our birds that 

take turns waiting to eat from the bird feeder nearby...

Our front yard....

In Raleigh we had snow starting around Noon.... for a few hours then it switched over to sleet....then to freezing rain, then back to quiet, eerie silence and no weather...then rain, sleet and snow in the exact order the NWS said it would happen. Snow totals were on the high side of their estimate, ice totals on the small side of their estimate. Same thing in New York as the snow totals were within the estimates given as well as the timing of the storm.

The Governor of North Carolina did a good job today thanking the people who work for the government who were out on the roads making sure that no one spent the night in their cars. They rescued anyone they found, vs where in Georgia they were giving them granola bars and asking if they needed blankets. Sorry, but if I was stranded over night in a car in a snow storm.. I'd want help out of my car.. I wouldn't want a granola bar... just saying.


Addressing the BIG story that THE GAME was postponed because the basketball players could not make it to the game... his response was right on the mark.

"what the heck would they be doing on a bus"

A good question... why would they put players on a bus and endanger their lives for a game just because it's a popular game and being shown on ESPN. Seems the game was called when the players were stuck waiting for the bus..   Seriously... Link tells the story in details..

http://chapelboro.com/hoop-it-up/duke-carolina-snow-odyssey/



Here's a picture yesterday of the sidewalks of New York... Brooklyn in particular.. Crown Heights.

Which makes you wonder what goes on in the minds of Mayors of New York. Is stupidity and being full of yourself a requirement for the job? It's an elected position to serve the public's needs. They are not King of the Castle dealing with serfs out in the field, which is what you would think. Yet another Mayor defended his poor decisions and tried throwing the NWS under the bus for his stupidity. It was not a busted forecast but a good forecast ...which makes this all the more bizarre.

The NWS of New York said that people should stay off the roads because of "treacherous" conditions, but they decided since the NWS could not guarantee a foot of snow they insisted on sending children to school because "they get a good meal" and it's like "daycare" for people who have to work in storms.

Huh?  So ...basically you are saying the poor children of NY and their working class parents are not much more valuable than serfs in the battle for money running the big state of NY. Their lives and the lives of their parents and teachers are worth nothing? B$ on the whole "they need healthy meals and daycare" it's a money decision not wanting to lose government money for loss of school days and make up days and don't feed me baloney on a cold, winter night and tell me it's steak. People are not that stupid.

I have complained at times about how far the TWC has swung to entertainment and repetitive reruns of the reality tv shows that are loosely weather related, but today I'm impressed with Al Roker's comments on Twitter where he took on the poor decision making of both the Mayor's office and the School System to task.

Al Roker ‏@alroker
@BillseBlasio Gov. Cuomo declaring state of emergency for the Mid-Hudson, New York City, and L.I. as a Nor'Easter storm continues affect NY

Al Roker ‏@alroker
I knew this am @NYCMayorsOffice @NYCSchools would close schools. Talk about a bad prediction. Long range DiBlasio forecast: 1 term

Al Roker ‏@alroker  Feb 13
And how about all the parents and caregivers who have to scramble to get their kids home? Is there no one there with any common sense?

Al Roker ‏@alroker  Feb 13
So now my daughter's NYC public school is being let out early. @NYCMayorsOffice @NYCSchools Is it worth putting kids' safety at risk?

Al Roker ‏@alroker  Feb 13
Why are schools all around NYC closed? It's going to take some kid or kids getting hurt before this goofball policy gets changed

I was a little busy down here in North Carolina watching small limbs fall off of tall pine trees during the height of the Ice Storm and worrying on losing power and loving every moment of watching the snow. I missed the shoot out on Twitter. My daughter sent it to me.. or rather read it to me. Why he "apologized" is beyond me, seems working for NBC must be like having a "good government job" ...

He was right. Dead on right. Schools are for education.. they do NOT replace the parents and they don't provide a safe port in a storm. Children in public school deserve to be treated with more respect than to assume they are so poor they are stuck going to public school and need a hot meal even if it means risking their life in 12 inches of snow for a 'hot meal" and "daycare" options. Gee.. I thought school was about education... 

Note an 8 month pregnant woman was struck by a snow plow and killed in Brooklyn in this same storm that the powers that be thought was a good idea for kids to walk through those same conditions to get to school for their... hot meal. 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/13/us/nyc-pregnant-woman-killed/

Tragic.. simply tragic. 

Note the last paragraph of the article above.

"The incident occurred during New York City's sixth winter storm of the season. The latest storm was expected to dump up to 14 inches on some parts of the city.

Fast-falling snow caused tractor-trailers to jacknife and prompted state authorities in New York to ban commercial traffic on Interstate 84, a major east-west highway."

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140213/dyker-heights/pregnant-woman-killed-by-snow-plow-brooklyn-child-saved

Min Lin lost her life in a random, tragic accident ...the kind that happen in Winter Storms... 

That could have been a teacher, a school service worker (like the kind who have to come in and prepare those famous healthy meals worth risking your life for...) or a child. No words.

You can find a list of the really, healthy meals and many choices that were offered the children of New York if they were able to make their way to school in a foot of snow in "treacherous conditions"

http://www.schoolfoodnyc.org/schoolfood/MenusDailyDisplay.aspx

Hot lunches........

If you child would rather have a cold lunch option....

Yes... he didn't want the poor children of NY to miss those really healthy, life saving lunches.

There are by the way... vegetarian options as well. 

http://www.schoolfoodnyc.org/schoolfood/MenusDailyDisplay.aspx

Thursday's meals in question were:

Slow Cooked Turkey w BBQ sauce and Surprise Corn Bread or...a Chef's Salad with Frito Lay Sun Chips.

You can't make this stuff up....

Sorry Mayor but if I am expecting a foot of snow and icy conditions I'd like my child to eat leftovers at home and I can give them Frito Lay Chips myself safely and I would NEVER EVER want my child's teacher to try to hike from New Jersey or Long Island driving in to be there babysitting until they could eat their Salami and Cheese on Wheat Bread. No words. We risked their lives over bags of Frito Lay Sun Chips???

Again the only words I can use are Al Roker's words.

"Is there no one there with any common sense?"

Again, happy to live in North Carolina. No one slept on the roads and we closed schools even when it might not snow until late in the day and for the most part.. we hunkered down and tried to help our neighbors.

I love New York... but you'd think the powers that be there would have learned more from Atlanta than to do what the Governor of Georgia did and blame the NWS service. 

The National Weather Service got it right.

The Mayor of New York and whoever is in charge of school attendance decisions got it wrong.

I don't think Al Roker should have had to apologize. I think the Mayor of New York should apologize to the parents and their children and the teachers and school support staffs for making such an irresponsible, foolish decision and hopefully the voters will remember and Al Roker's "forecast" will be as on the money as the NWS weather forecast was.. 

Al Roker ‏@alroker  45m

I knew this am @NYCMayorsOffice @NYCSchools would close schools. Talk about a bad prediction. Long range DiBlasio forecast: 1 term

Besos Bobbi

Ps... as Parents ...as people we need to think with common sense and remember who is in charge of our children and their safety... us... not some politician worrying on his budget or trying to be politically correct!

Note in NC ... 24 hours later the sun is out... the Carolina blue skies are glorious and the snow is melting ...the ice is melting... the birds are back in their favorite dogwood waiting for their turn at the bird feeder.  Prayers for my close friends in Georgia who are still without power and digging out from the worst of the Ice Storm of 2014. I guess this is why people move down here to NC..because usually the snow goes "poof" in a day or two...