Traffic inches along the connector of Interstate’s 75 and 85 as snow blankets Metro Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 28, 2014, as seen from the Pryor Street overpass.
James Catanzaro, president of Chattanooga State Community College, was stuck in Atlanta’s weather-related traffic gridlock on Tuesday.For 13 hours, Chattanooga State President Jim Catanzaro sat through headline-grabbing nothingness – no help, no hope, and no movement.
But finally, around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, he saw a woman walking past his rental car. Catanzaro had seen this same woman earlier that morning, marching through 2 inches of snow in 10-degree weather, abandoning this particular section of the parking lot formerly known as Interstate 285.
Now, the woman was back. Catanzaro asked if she had seen any sign of hope.
She said she talked with a Georgia State Highway Patrol trooper. She asked when they could leave the interstate. The trooper told her an evacuation plan would take effect — in 24 hours.
Catanzaro had expected to get back to Chattanooga around 11 p.m. Tuesday. Now, he was cold, and tired, and miserable. He decided to break the rules.