Atlanta

State says it is ready for weekend snowstorm

ATLANTA — With the winter storm getting closer to Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens say road crews are ready to take on the storm.

“We’re doing everything pre-storm that we can. We’ll do everything during the storm that we can,” Kemp said.

During a news conference at the state capitol, Channel 2′s Justin Wilfon asked the governor if the state learned lessons from 2014 -- the infamous ‘Snowmageddon.’

“I’m confident that we’re doing all we can with the resources that we have. You can’t fool mother nature. We all know that,” Kemp said.

The governor said the state has stockpiled more resources since 2014, with larger amounts of brine ready for use on the state’s highways and interstates.

The state also said Georgia Department of Transportation moved crews from south Georgia to north Georgia, into the areas expected to be hardest hit by the storm.

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At a separate press conference at a city of Atlanta operations facility, mayor Dickens said the city is also working on a plan to combat the expected storm.

He’s confident the city can prevent another incident like 2014.

“This is different in a number of ways -- one is we’re prepared,” Dickens said.

The city has 40 trucks ready to go, along with 5,500 tons of salt, and 20,000 gallons of brine.

Despite some staffing issues due to COVID-19, the mayor says the city has plenty of crews ready to hit the streets.

“We have contractors on standby and individuals from other departments, watershed management, public works, DOT all being able to work together, so we’re pulling resources from other places,” Dickens said.

Based on the forecast as of Friday, Dickens said crews will likely hit the streets early Sunday morning.

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