Georgia officials under fire for actions before, during, after snow

CNN: Two days after snow began to fall -- and a day after many Georgians, including hundreds of schoolchildren, finally made it home -- the state's governor apologized Thursday for what many saw as an insufficient and ineffective response.

Gov. Nathan Deal told reporters he was "not satisfied" with how his state dealt with the 2.6 inches of snow plus the sheets of ice that it turned into, leading to massive gridlock throughout metro Atlanta. In addition to students stranded at school, many drivers camped out in their cars or abandoned them by the hundreds along thoroughfares big and small.

"I accept responsibility for the fact that we did not make preparation early enough to avoid these consequences," Deal said. "... I'm not looking for a scapegoat. I'm the governor, the buck stops with me."

Speaking later Thursday with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Deal said "we all made errors in judgment" and that "the major lesson is we have to be more proactive." According to the governor, that means taking action like declaring a state of emergency earlier on -- even if it ends up being a false alarm, relatively -- and making sure the resources are available to deal with such a crisis…

A view from Atlanta in January 2005, when a snow storm was better managed. Shot by SCEhardt, public domain