Hundreds of students who were stranded at schools throughout Alabama Tuesday night because of a rare winter storm that paralyzed parts of the Deep South spent a second night camping out in their classrooms, as rescuers rushed to find motorists stopped cold by icy roads.
About 11,000 children were stranded at schools statewide Tuesday night because buses couldn't get them home and parents couldn't get to the schools, said Michael Sibley, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Education. Most were in the Birmingham area.
Some 1,600 children remained in schools by late Wednesday afternoon, and some would have to spend a second night, he said.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley told reporters late Wednesday he hopes that all students will be reunited with their parents by Thursday, WAFF.com reported.
"We are making progress though," Bentley said. "One of the things I am proudest of [is] the way our school systems handled the situation, where our children have been stranded in schools. As I said yesterday, if you trust your teacher during the daytime, you ought to trust your teacher at night. That's exactly what they did."
The winter storm that hit much of the South on Tuesday was wider and more severe than many officials expected. The National Weather Service revised its forecast for parts of Alabama shortly before snow and ice started falling, but for many citizens the warning came too late. Five people died in crashes that state troopers said appeared weather-related.
"It looked like the zombie apocalypse," Republican state Rep. Mack Butler of Rainbow City said Wednesday. He was driving to a meeting of the Legislature on Tuesday when he had to stop at a gas station in Birmingham and spent the night in his pickup truck because highways were impassable.
Hundreds of motorists spent Tuesday night at Boutwell Memorial Auditorium in Birmingham, where the city set up a warming center with cots, blankets and food. A number of people who abandoned their vehicles were still at the facility late Wednesday, waiting for bus service to resume, MyFoxAL.com reported.
State helicopters flew over Jefferson and Shelby counties searching for stranded motorists who hadn't received help, and 350 National Guard troops were activated to help with rescues. But state Emergency Management Director Art Faulkner said none was found who hadn't received assistance.
Meanwhile, in Georgia, state patrol officials said two traffic fatalities had been reported in counties outside of Atlanta. State troopers also responded to more than 1,460 crashes between Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening and said more than 175 injuries had been reported.
Officials said 239 children spent Tuesday night aboard school buses throughout the state; thousands of others stayed overnight in their schools.
One woman's 12-mile commute home took 16 hours. Another woman gave birth while stuck in traffic; police arrived just in time to help. Drivers who gave up trying to get home took shelter at fire stations, churches and grocery stores.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed admitted the city could have directed schools, businesses and government offices to stagger their closings on Tuesday afternoon, as the storm began, rather than dismissing everyone at the same time.
"I'm not thinking about a grade right now," the mayor said when asked about the city's response. "I'm thinking about getting people out of their cars."
National Guardsmen in Humvees, state troopers and transportation crews delivered food and other relief, and by Wednesday night, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said all Atlanta-area schoolchildren were back home with their parents.
Deal, who is up for re-election in November, said warnings could have been posted along highways earlier and farther out Tuesday. But he also fended off criticism.
"I would have acted sooner, and I think we learn from that and then we will act sooner the next time," Deal told reporters.
Temperatures in Atlanta were forecast to dip as low as 16 Wednesday night, then gradually rise to the mid-50s by Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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