I've got nothing but respect for you either man.
It's okay not to see eye to eye with a bud. I consider EH76 to be one of my favorite people on here and yet I think he's a little out of line in his assessment of what happened here.
Here's the thing. You saw the weather reports in South Dakota. Dude, I don't ignore the weather reports in South Dakota, I just never see them. Why would I!?
We see what's reported locally. What occurred was not what was predicted here. You'd have to be here and watch the local news, or listen to the local radio to get it.
I completely agree that it was underestimated, but I submit that that was due to local reporting, not due to people just blowing it off.
Trust me, nobody fears winter like southerners. If they had even the slightest implication that this was going to be what it was, people would still be peaking out from behind their curtains!
It's really hard for people that have only experienced real winter weather once a decade to "have a plan". They just don't know what to prepare for, nor do they have the stuff stocked on the shelves to do that with. It's completely a foreign concept and for good reason.
What failed here is that the one's that
should have known, the local emergency crews, law enforcement (elected officials), and the media should have had a plan in the books long in advance, on how to handle such an event.
They didn't, and it caused major problems.
you are all easterners as far as I am concerned! 
