Snowpocalypse One Year Later: Ga. Better Prepared Says GEMA Chief

One year ago today, two inches of snow and ice caused total chaos in metro Atlanta.

Thousands were stuck in gridlock for hours. Children were stranded at school, and state emergency management officials struggled to deal with the crisis.

The state says it is better prepared than a year ago. The Department of Transportation has invested in trucks to spray brine on highways and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency has created "strike teams" to quickly deal with weather–related traffic tie–ups on major roadways.

Jim Butterworth, the agency's director says the groups would fan out across the metro area.

"They would be around the metro area, as few as 10, as many as 30," explains Butterworth. "One of the things we definitely learned from last years was there are certain choke points; we could have these strike teams at those choke points."

The teams include officers from the Georgia State Patrol, as well as crews to clear limbs and other debris from highways.

GPB Radio will have more on the lessons learned from last year's storm, later this week.

Tags: snowpocalypse, snowmagedon, jim butterworth, state says its better prepared to handle a snowmageddon, snowmeggedon, snowmaggedon, GEMA, georgia dept. of transportation