Georgia governor declares state of emergency as storm looms

February 10, 2014 at 11:06 a.m.

by The Associated Press

In this Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014, file photo, cars abandoned during an earlier snowstorm sit idle along Northside Parkway in Atlanta. With memories of thousands of vehicles gridlocked for hours on icy metro Atlanta highways fresh in their minds, emergency officials and elected leaders in north Georgia were preparing Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, for another round of winter weather.
In this Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014, file photo, cars abandoned during an earlier snowstorm sit idle along Northside Parkway in Atlanta. With memories of thousands of vehicles gridlocked for hours on icy metro Atlanta highways fresh in their minds, emergency officials and elected leaders in north Georgia were preparing Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, for another round of winter weather.

ATLANTA — With memories of gridlock on icy Atlanta highways still fresh, Georgia officials got a second chance Monday to prove the state could prepare for winter weather. The governor declared a state of emergency hours ahead of the storm, something he didn’t do two weeks ago.

Gov. Nathan Deal was widely criticized for the response to the Jan. 28 storm that paralyzed the metro area after two inches of snow fell. Drivers spent the night in frigid cars, students slept in school buses and thousands of cars were abandoned along highways. Officials reported one accident-related death.

Even before the first snowflakes fell, people around Atlanta planned to work from home and stay off the roads.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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