What exactly is the NJ governor's role in managing road conditions/maintenance during non-disaster weather events?
For federal-level disaster relief/management activities, the POTUS must expressly instruct, albeit at a somewhat high level, various organizations -- FEMA, the military, etc. -- to do "this and that." He's got to at least order things to the effect of "coordinate resources to do XYZ," "send troops 'here' and 'there' and have them do 'XYZ,'" "commence planning to send 'such and such'/'so and so' to..." and so on. He's also got to make certain disaster declarations.
I don't know what comparable responsibilities the NJ governor has for non-blizzard grade snow events. After all, it's NJ not AZ. Snow isn't exactly an uncommon event in NJ.
The man declared a state of emergency. What else was he supposed to do?
BTW, does NJ law require folks to have snow tires, chains or studded tires when driving in snow conditions?
- DC does, but the fine is $100, hardly enough to motivate behavior given the relatively high incomes of many DC residents. That said, one'd think that the prospect of getting stuck in the snow be adequate motivation to at least have two sets of tires -- summer and winter -- for one's car(s), if not additional equipment such as chains.
From the article:
"Murphy said officials had to "turn on a dime" from an inaccurate forecast."
"Snowpocalypse?" That seems like an incredibly sensationalist term given the quantity of snow (~8") that's forecast.
NJ is forecast to get about eight inches of snow. That's not a particularly huge amount of snow, but it's enough to be somewhat troublesome. I live in DC -- a mid atlantic locale like NJ, rather than a northern one like Maine or Minnesota -- eight inches will "do a number" on traffic if the city's government isn't properly informed and/or otherwise able to prepare for and deal with it.
Red:
Ten minutes? Why didn't you just walk and leave your car parked at work, or better still, knowing snow was coming, not drive to work in the first place? (Hell, ten minutes away...why even drive at all?) Whatever...Maybe that's a suburban-people's thing[SUP]1[/SUP]...You chose to drive; that's that and it is what it is...I have a former colleague who lives in Mahwah and odds are, if he's in the NYC/NJ area, he also got delayed in traffic.
Is there something that gave you a rational reason to think roads would be more passable than they were?
Note:
- The guy I know best and who lives up there is the sort who drives to the end of his driveway to collect the mail. LOL I don't know if that's a suburban thing or a rural thing; I just know it's something he does. I occasionally rib him about it. In fairness, where he lives is adjacent to a state park and is pretty rural feeling, so to get anywhere he's pretty much got to drive or take a helicopter.
Blue:
"Stalled out." That's a vehicle engine operation/maintenance matter, not a snow matter.
Knock off the personal crap, people.