The storm paralyzed metro Atlanta and north Georgia for days, the heavy snowfall closing interstates from Atlanta northward.

Saturday’s blizzard conditions subsided somewhat by late in the day, but were followed by bitter cold, with temperatures plummeting into the teens on Sunday.

The following Monday, hundreds if not thousands of motorists were still stranded on snow-packed I-75 through northwest Georgia. National Guardsmen in four-wheel drive vehicles made their way up the interstate, handing out bags of fruit to stranded motorists.

The weight of all that snow took its toll on the carpet industry in northwest Georgia, where the roofs of numerous large carpet mills and warehouses collapsed.

Over 10 million utility customers lost power as the storm developed into a fierce Nor’easter as it skirted the Atlantic coast northward. In Georgia, more than a half-million Georgia Power customers were without electricity, some for as long as two weeks.