State leaders struck a cautiously optimistic tone Wednesday as temperatures plunged and sheets of ice blanketed North Georgia.
Gov. Nathan Deal applauded residents for staying off the roads and warned the public not to be “deceived” by gaps in the storm.
Deal said transportation officials were working to shift crews eastward as the first tendrils of the sprawling ice storm extended toward Augusta. He said more than 1,000 National Guard troops were dispatched across the state and that no one has yet had to lodge at any of the 11 state parks and other facilities turned into makeshift shelters.
“We are a resilient state. We are a resilient people. And we will bounce back,” said Deal, adding: “Life will return to normal as soon as this storm is over with.”
Yet the worst of the storm awaits as the number of power outages hovers around 200,000 and is poised to grow with ice snapping tree limbs and bringing down power lines. The weather so far has lived up to forecasters’ dire expectations, said Deal, who warned residents not to be “deceived” by patches of sunshine in between snow and icy rain.
“People who think they can drive on ice are probably sadly mistaken,” said Deal, who closed the state government on Thursday. “The best thing they can do is to stay off the roads unless it’s absolutely necessary. The most important thing is if this is what we think — ice and power lines coming down — don’t try to drive on the streets.”
Stocks of salt and sand to treat slippery roadways are being replenished, partly from supplies from South Carolina. Deal’s emergency order covering 91 counties stretches until Friday, and the governor urged school administrators to take caution as they consider reopening classrooms later this week.
The all-out government response is notably different than the public preparations to the Jan. 28 snowfall that paralyzed metro Atlanta. The governor waited then until hours after gridlock seized Atlanta’s highways to sign an emergency order, and many school systems added to the mayhem by keeping their classrooms open.
This time, Deal has sought a more proactive response that has involved frequent press conferences, sweeping emergency orders and a staggered release of state workers hours before the first snowflake even fell. He said the effort has already paid dividends.
“In terms of what I am hearing and seeing, we are in about as good of shape as we can be,” Deal told his top deputies at a briefing early Wednesday.
State officials say it’s too early to even predict when drivers can return to the roads, but many residents with fresh memories of agonizing commutes in January are reluctant to risk a repeat. The governor urged them to sit tight a little longer.
“Thanks to the people of Georgia,” he said. “You have shown your character.”
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