Shutting down everything for a few inches of snow was ridiculous, right? Although there was no snow seen in Statesboro, other parts of the state were snowed in. Whether you were happily inside your home or panicking because your relative was stuck inside of a store, Atlanta, one of the busiest capitals in the United States, seemed to be hit by the storm worse than anywhere else. On that note, I think we all can agree on the fact that local and state governments need to prepare better for storms such as this past one to avoid shutdowns and fatal accidents.

For northerners, six inches of snow and icy roads early in the morning is everyday life around this time of year. For Southerners, a cold morning with some wind is the usual. Does this give our public safety departments and state government an excuse for not properly preparing for this winter storm? Absolutely not. We, the citizens of America, pay taxes in order for the government to protect as well as take care of us.  According to a CNN report on the storm, Matthew Holcomb, a vice president of engineering at CNN, was stranded on a road for 16 hours and stated that “they’ve done nothing.” Yes, those accidents in Atlanta were partly caused by Americans’ bad judgment of the storm, but why weren’t the roads shut down by public safety? Where were the snow plows? Where were the salt trucks? Georgia officials could have done better planning for sure.

From The Atlanta Braves first-baseman Freddie Freeman to a pregnant woman, many people were stranded in the storm and unfortunately experienced the worst of it.  Ultimately, I firmly believe that hundreds of accidents could have been avoid if the state government had taken the storm more seriously. Yes, meteorologists predicted only an inch of snow, but according to Business Insider, there was no salting, sanding, or municipal closures planned.  It seems like there was no plan for this ever happening period. Quite irresponsible of our government isn’t it? I believe so. Now Governor Deal and Mayor Kasim Reed have a lot of explaining to do. And quite frankly, there aren’t too many other people to blame.