Winter Storm Leon hits the South

North Carolina and the rest of the South saw an unusual visitor Tuesday night: Winter Storm Leon.

Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency on Tuesday in North Carolina, with some areas of the state receiving a possible foot of snow and sleet.

On Tuesday, the State Highway Patrol answered more than 2,500 service calls — 20 percent higher than normal. That included collisions, stranded motorists and abandoned vehicles.

“Most of the state has had some combination of sleet, freezing rain and/or snow, and with below-freezing temperatures, we’re expecting those icy road conditions to continue … into Thursday,” said Mike Sprayberry, emergency management director with the N.C. Department of Public Safety, in a statement.

Universities across the state canceled classes Wednesday, and some have canceled classes today.

“This is the first time I’ve seen snow since I’ve been here,” said Haley Drabek, a junior at East Carolina University. “Everyone is outside having snowball fights, sledding, just hanging out outside because we never have it.”

A possible 10 inches of snow were expected for Greenville, and ECU canceled afternoon classes Tuesday and all classes Wednesday and today. University officials said they would let students know about Friday classes today.

“We pretty much have an entire week off,” Drabek said. “It’s fun and everything, but it’s a bummer being out of class.”

ECU junior Matt Furse said the university handled the situation well by canceling classes.

“Greenville is not prepared to take on snow,” he said. “I went to the grocery store, and people were freaking out and buying milk and bread and all the necessities. There was no milk left.”

The rest of the South was also hit by Leon Tuesday night. Atlanta made the news for its icy roads that created a massive gridlock of traffic.

Sam Hurley, a 2013 UNC graduate who now works as a paramedic in Atlanta, said his normal 15-minute commute to work took him two hours.

“They didn’t pretreat the roads — they kind of underestimated what was coming for them,” he said.

Atlanta received about 2 inches of snow, he said, but it all turned to ice.

“The joke is that it’s like the zombie apocalypse — cars are parked in the roadway and people just abandoned their cars,” Hurley said.

Many of the universities and colleges in Atlanta canceled classes Tuesday, Wednesday and today.

“I think it’s snowed maybe twice in my life, so this is pretty amazing for me,” said Aaron Chambers, a freshman at Clark Atlanta University who is originally from Texas. “It was very powdery so I couldn’t make a snowman, but I made a few snowballs.”

state@dailytarheel.com