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Sen. Carter Says State ‘Failed’ Citizens During Snowstorm

January 31st, 2014

On Friday, Democratic state Senator and gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter said the state mishandled the snowstorm that left many people stranded but stopped short of blaming the governor directly. The comments come after Governor Deal apologized for the state’s response and called for an internal review.

Senator Carter says he was inspired by Georgians aiding each other during the storm but was also critical of the state.

“A huge part of this story is that Georgians really stepped up to the plate, and then there was the state’s response and everyone agrees that was a failure of those same citizens.”

But Carter says there will be an investigation into the matter, and at this point it doesn’t do any good to say who’s at fault.

“We don’t gain anything today by me standing here in the midst of a political frenzy laying blame. It’s just not helpful. What I can do today is talk about how we can get it better the next time, and I know people don’t want to hear that because it’s the second time in three years.

However, Carter left the door open to respond again after the internal review is complete. He also took indirect jabs at the governor, saying there needs to be unified command in communication during emergencies and there’s the need to declare a state of emergency early.

“The only way in metro Atlanta going forward that we can have that unified command is have the governor initiate response early. You have to take command from the beginning.”

But Republican Senate floor leader Charlie Bethel argued Alabama declared a state of emergency many hours before a similar one issued by Deal on Tuesday afternoon.

“I want to draw our attention to our good friends in Alabama who declared a state of emergency at 6 a.m. Tuesday and even with that declaration in place had school children spending the night two nights in many schools in Alabama.”

Bethel also defended the governor’s response to reporters. On Thursday, Georgia Emergency Management Agency head Charlie English took responsibility for not recommending Deal act sooner. Both Bethel and Carter declined to say whether English should be removed.

Other Democrats called for the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the storm response and to improve it in the future.On Friday, Democratic state Senator and gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter said the state mishandled the snowstorm that left many people stranded but stopped short of blaming the governor directly. The comments come after Governor Deal apologized for the state’s response and called for an internal review.