Governor, Mayor Defend Storm Response, Urge Everyone to Stay Off Roads
Just a couple of inches of snow threw metro Atlanta’s interstates—and many big surface streets—into complete gridlock, stranding commuters and school children alike. And as WABE’s Denis O’Hayer reports, Georgia’s Governor and Atlanta’s Mayor held a late-night press conference Tuesday to explain.
15 hours; 12 hours; 8 hours: That’s how long some commuters sat in their cars on ice-covered highways like I-75 between Atlanta and Cobb County, or the Downtown Connector southbound. Some school children were stranded in their buses; other storm victims simply abandoned their cars and sought shelter where they could—in places like stores and gas stations.
Many vented on social media: Some used language unsuitable for radio; others voiced variations of one tweet we saw: ”Why is Georgia never prepared?” Shortly after 11:00 Tuesday night, Governor Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed held a press conference in the office of the Governor, who argued road crews were ready, and working on the roads before the storm hit, but the amount of snow, and the sudden commuter rush, were more than anyone expected.
“There are things we can’t control,” Deal said. ”And that is the temperatures. And what is happening is, as the DOT and the City of Atlanta treats these streets, some of the ice is meling, but it very likely will freeze back over by in the morning. So, we’ll have to start the process back over again.”
As for the stranded school children, the Governor said the school systems have the primary responsibility for them, but the state was offering help. He and the Mayor said they were better prepared than during the ice storm of 2011.
(The audio of Governor Deal in the broadcast story above is courtesy of WXIA-TV.)
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