Governor’s staff began raising questions about storm Monday
Gov. Nathan Deal’s chief of staff was raising questions about the severity of Tuesday’s storm almost a full day before it hit.
Emails obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution show Deal’s chief of staff, Chris Riley, was pressing GEMA Director Charley English about the storm’s impact as early as Monday.
“Everyone keeps trying to tell me how bad the weather is going to be but I keep saying if the weather was going to be bad, Charley would have called and he hasn’t called me,” Riley said in an email to English.
The two later apparently talked by phone, and the governor’s staff said Riley pressed English on the issue. English, who has been with the agency for almost 20 years, acknowledged Thursday that he blew the call on the storm, not fully alerting the Deal administration about its impact on Atlanta until about 9 a.m. Tuesday.
About the Author
James Salzer has covered state government and politics in Georgia since 1990. He previously covered politics and government in Texas and Florida. He specializes in government finance, budgets, taxes, campaign finance, ethics and legislative history
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