Sunny and Busy Skies!

Tyler Collins
South Atlanta QZ/ARTCC, GA, US
^I like adding a tag, it's easier to keep track of everyone. Good call, Sarah and Dan.

It sounds like everyone had a rough time this past week. Things were no different in GA.

Locally, we got over five inches of rain and the entire Southeast was off-and-on bad weather the whole week. We powered up for a short time every morning in preparation for traffic and got the stand-down signal each time. If any of you are in those areas that gets regular drops, I'm really sorry that nothing went through. I know that several QZs in the more remote areas basically live week-to-week by those drops. I hope it wasn't terrible for you, but this week's big lift is clear enough to happen, thank goodness. It's been busy these last couple of days in the ATC room, lots of Herks, especially on the north side.

We went back to the QZ for the weekend since we knew it wouldn't clear up. Those trips are generally uneventful, but some of the roads were flooded and we dared not go through Locust Grove. It's seventeen miles by bicycle to our vehicle drop south of Jenkinsburg, normally, but our detour was significantly longer. It only poured on us once during that ride, but that was enough to soak right through our clothes. No contacts, living or otherwise, likely due to the drop in visibility right as we passed I75. We prefer to keep it that way.

To make matters worse, five inches of rain really added up on Jackson Lake, where the QZ is. The rise in water, washed-out paths and roads, and poor construction of the temporary housing made everything pretty nasty. I was extra busy with digging channels, emptying 'habs, organizing a relocation, and the like.

The lake, as you can imagine, is pretty gross by now. The emergency shelters have been up since January and everyone who owned a boat brought it when they fled to the QZ. Combine that with bad enforcement of waste disposal guidelines and now we have a giant, acidic, oily cesspool completely emptied of anything edible. I still can't believe that the bosses didn't believe Eddie (our health guy, from the Fulton Co. Health Dept., I help him out when I'm behind the fence) when he said that we'd need new fresh water sources within five days of setting up the QZ. Well, at least now they believe us.

Rainwater is generally as clean as the vessel you use to collect it, so it's pretty safe. We still filter and treat ours because of all the fires in Atlanta (I highly recommend you do too, wherever you are). I'm worried about heavy metal content, though, so much that I almost want to ask for an expedition over to Gordon. With a generator and some standards (easy enough to make), I could get some info on our water quality with their instruments. I could also raid their stockroom and get a ton of useful stuff, if it hasn't been emptied or burned to the ground. Of course, GT would be better, but there's no way in hell we're going back into Atlanta.

I don't like staying in the QZ for long, it's always busy and people bug you a lot for information or stories beyond the wall. Frankly, we do what we can to avoid the interesting stories and this blog is the only non-official communication that we do.  I'm always a bit on edge when we're out but coming back in is way more stressful. Leaving Monday morning was a relief. The trip back was less wet, but we did have to lob off two or three groaners (it feels weird to call them that). I let the military guys do that part as much as I can.

When we powered up on Tuesday, we found out from friends at Peachtree City/Falcon Field that they got an S-band radar working again, but the signal strength is way low and the computer software isn't working properly. I guess it's better than nothing.

I feel like there's so much more to tell but I also feel like I'm rambling. Let me know if y'all want details on stuff, or think I need to stop being so wordy.

Stay safe, everyone, and keep praying for clear skies.