Let’s just get this out of the way: the weather lately has been insane — not secretly check your boyfriend’s old Facebook messages crazy. I’m talking full-fledged, Britney Spears circa 2007, frantically shaving her head, certifiably insane. This week, on multiple occasions, I have seriously considered petitioning to begin construction on an underground tunnel system so that I won’t have to spend the first 10 minutes of each of my classes defrosting.
  However, despite the bitter cold and intense wind chill, Starkville has been lucky enough to escape some of the more treacherous weather that has plagued our fellow southeastern cities, specifically Birmingham, Ala. Social media was swamped with videos and pictures of masses of unattended cars lining the highway like a scene from “The Walking Dead.” Stories have been circulating about people walking miles down the interstate in the snow to get home or choosing the alternative of sleeping in their vehicles, schools or office buildings.
  These apocalyptic images would lead one to believe the city of Birmingham had been hit by a record-breaking blizzard, “The Perfect Storm – Snow Edition,” but the reality is quite the contrary. All of this turmoil was caused by just over two inches of snow and ice. Daily life came to a complete halt, and the city was, quite literally, in a state of emergency because of two measly inches of precipitation.
   For comparative purposes, according to CurrentResults.com, Vail, Colo., gets about 1.5 inches of snow every single day of January.
   This phenomenon raisesseveral questions. How could such a seemingly small bit of inclement weather create such distress? Why was Birmingham, a fairly large city, so ill-prepared to cope with this storm? What could have been done differently to prevent the chaos?
   Brian Barrett, a writer for Gizmodo.com and a native of Birmingham, provides an interesting perspective regarding these questions in his article, “Why the South Fell Apart in the Snow.”
    Barrett first informs the reader what an oddity this type of weather is to this geographical region, stating that, until the present week, it had not snowed in Birmingham in the month of January for 21 of the last 30 years. He goes on to say, “Birminghamians need snowplows like New Yorkers need tornado shelters.”
    Barrett then said that Jefferson County (where Birmingham is located) filed for “what was at the time the nation’s largest-ever municipal bankruptcy” in the year 2011. According to Barrett, “Birmingham is not equipped to handle snow of any magnitude, because it normally has no reason to be, and even if it did, it couldn’t afford to.”
    On a large scale, this frightening truth should serve as a wake-up call to the southeast. If the monetary resources to respond to this type weather do not currently exist, the budget should be restructured immediately, regardless of how rare this genre of storm may be. The very essence of retaining safety within a state rests in being prepared for rare circumstances.
  On an individual scale, as citizens of this area, we need to take note of the situation at hand and learn from it. While we, as a region, are no strangers to the threat of dangerous weather, we must expand our awareness to include the winter months.
   As funny as it is has been to watch my roommate put on seven T-shirts and waddle out of the door like the little brother from “A Christmas Story” every morning, this weather has unveiled a very serious issue  — we are unprepared, and that must change.