Georgia emergency management officials and motorists appear to be heeding the example of "Snowmageddon" - the snowstorm that paralyzed the state in 2014 with hours-long traffic jams and multiple collisions.
The state Department of Transportation (DOT) started treating roads and highways with brine on Wednesday, two days before snow began to blanket the northern half of Georgia with accumulations up to several inches in some areas. Traffic was light, with schools and government offices closed.
"We have learned a lot of lessons," Chris Stallings, director of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), told reporters Friday morning, January 10, 2025, during a briefing at the State Operations Center in southeast Atlanta. "We stayed in front of it."
Georgia Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry said DOT crews have treated more than 20,000 miles of roadways with more than 770 tons of salt. Interstates are getting top priority, followed by highway ramps and state routes, he said.
The goal is to clear two lanes of highway, enough so motorists can get through, McMurry said.
"We can't clear the roads immediately, (but) we're going to make them passable," he said.
Will Lanxton, a meteorologist with GEMA, said the snow that was falling on Friday morning was expected to turn into freezing rain later in the day before tapering off by midnight.
"This rain on top of snow is going to freeze and make driving worse," Gov. Brian Kemp cautioned.
Kemp said Georgia's power companies have prepositioned resources in case winds forecast to reach speeds of up to 20 miles an hour Friday and Saturday topple trees and cause power outages.
Kemp thanked Georgians for heeding the warnings of emergency management officials and for the most part staying off the roads, resulting in light traffic.
Stallings urged motorists to stay home for the rest of Friday into the weekend, so DOT crews can treat the roads.
"Let us clear the roads," he urged. "It's much easier without broken-down, disabled vehicles."
Lanxton said road conditions could remain hazardous into Sunday morning if temperatures stay low enough to refreeze the highways, forcing DOT crews to go back and re-treat.
"We're going to do our part to stay ahead of it," McMurry said. "We are 24-7 until this event subsides and everyone is safe."
