Gov. Deal Announces Severe Weather Task Force

February 4,2014

Gov. Nathan Deal has announced a new Severe Weather Warning Task Force and alert system in the wake of last week’s snowstorm that caused havoc in metro Atlanta.

During an afternoon press conference, Deal said the task force includes meteorologists from Atlanta’s TV stations including WSB’s Glenn Burns, 11 Alive’s Chesley McNeil, CBS Atlanta’s Markina Brown and Fox 5′s Ken Cook. Last week, Deal said his office had relied on models from the National Weather Service, even as local news stations were predicting the snow event to strike Downtown Atlanta and points north on Jan. 28.

The task force also includes law enforcement officials, legislators, school system officials and the Georgia Department of Emergency Management. Deal said he was standing by GEMA director Charley English, who made headlines last week for not notifying the governor earlier on Jan. 28 of the shifting weather forecast and the late opening of the emergency operations center.

The governor also said a new alert system modeled from amber alerts issued for missing children would be implemented to notify residents and motorists of weather emergencies.