Atlanta weather | Greyhound passengers stranded, frustrated

Rosita Neal of Chicago said she's been stranded at Atlanta's Greyhound bus station since Saturday evening.

But she and the other 150 passengers stuck at the Forsyth Street station are being fed and taken care of.

Atlanta police and staffers from the city jail delivered sandwiches, bottled water and blankets late Monday night. Police returned Tuesday morning with breakfast. A nearby McDonald's and the Salvation Army also have helped out.

"It's really a culmination of several units coming together," Patrick Labat, the city's chief of corrections, told the AJC Tuesday morning.

Greyhound canceled all service from Atlanta on Monday and Tuesday. At 9 a.m. Wednesday, officials will determine whether it is safe to resume operation, spokeswoman Maureen Richmond told the AJC.

Richmond said Greyhound is working with the Salvation Army to make sure meals are delivered as long as passengers are stranded. In addition, the station's restaurant has reopened.

Richmond also noted "we have two buses out front of the terminal, running and warm, if passengers want to retreat there."

Passengers complained, however, about what they described as a lack of planning for the emergency.

Neal said she was transferring in Atlanta after visiting relatives in Greenville, S.C.

"Why let me leave out of Greenville to transfer to a bus to Chicago when there are no buses running?" Neal told the AJC.

"I'm on medication. There are certain foods I have to eat. Today is Tuesday and I've been here since Saturday. Two nights I didn't sleep, and last night I slept on the floor. They had problems with food. ... I said, ‘You need to give people something, some complimentary coffee and doughnuts.'"

Jonathon Skibbe, trying to get home to Pittsburgh from Fort Lauderdale,  said Greyhound employees had no answers when he got to the station Monday after a 12-hour ride.

"There was no food -- the restaurant was closed," Skibbe said. "We started making a stink, and somebody called the Salvation Army. This place had already been in a state of emergency and they'd made no attempts to get food. McDonald's got here, then the Salvation Army came."

Richmond said the storm that kept buses from running also prevented employees from making it to work.

"The team that was there did a good job," she maintained.