"What I saw yesterday I never want to see again," she added. - Lt Governor Elizabeth Roberts

Please spare us this sentiment. Schools and the majority of businesses dismissed everyone virtually at the same time. It was a traffic surge. What did you expect? Tell us.

Perhaps you ought to move to Palm Springs.

It is disingenuous to blame the Governor or RI National Guard for not activating the EOC....what where all the thousands of state, local, and school officials doing when they saw the weather reports the night before? This was a snow storm was just that...a snow storm not a statewide emergency.

Last time I checked the Gov was in Iraq. Isn't the Lt. Gov supposed to take over when the Gov. isn't available or is out of state on state business?

I spent 10 hrs driving from Syracuse, NY to Wakefield RI. I was impressed with the ability of the New York thruway maintenance people to keep the roads passable, (though it was barley) traffic flow was maintained on 90 to the Mass pike, Mass pike received over 12 to 18 inches of snow in the storm and they managed to maintain passable conditions, it was not until I hit 146 that I had impassable conditions. At that point I was 6 hrs into the trip, about an hour behind normal time. They still managed to keep traffic flowing at a crawl. It cleared up and traffic was maintained. When I reached my home state the road crews were just starting to clear the snow. there was 12" of snow on the ramp from 146 to 295 at 8:00 last night. No plow had touched it. 295 was heavy snow cover and barley passable. same with the ramp from 295 to 95 under 8" snow not touched by a plow. 95 south was the same all the way to 4. and same with 4 down to 1A into the south counties. where were the road crews? You keep going. You assign a stretch of road to a truck, and they keep their area of responsibility clean as best they can. I did not see a plow the whole time I was fighting my way south on 295 and 95. I did not see a plow on 4 south nor on 1A. We have some of the highest Taxes in the nation and they can’t keep the roads clear. It was after 9:00 at night no one was on the road. This is when you start cleaning it up. Not wait for the warm weather of the next day to hopefully melt it off, so you do not have to pay overtime.
I am from snow country of northeast OH and know how to deal with this. Spent my life driving in heavy snow conditions. the conditions in RI were unacceptable. You need to prep the roads, this was not done. You need to use Salt not Sand. You need to spend the money for overtime, and the equipment. If the Gov and Mayor are concerned about school kids on a bus fighting to get home, they need to look at their inability to manage the situation. The reason they were still on the bus was the road conditions. It would not have mattered when they left. It would have been the same.
As Buddy put it last night you are only as good as your last snow storm. It is obvious that we need a new direction in RI politics.

Who the heck is Elizabeth Roberts trying to kid? She didn't do a thing in the Governor's absence. Just another Rhode Island politico trying to take credit for absolutely positively nothing. Healy's right. Let's get rid of the Lt. Governor's office if it can't do anything when the Guv is gone.

Like many others, I was stuck for hours within the city and on 95. It just seems that the State could not handle a situation where 6-8 inches fell. I hear "excuses" about how different factors like everyone leaving the same time caused the grid-lock, but what I saw reminded me eerily of what happened in '78 where cars were abandoned all over the place. Thank god there were no serious injuries. I remember other storms where as soon as the snow started falling, trucks were seen sanding and plowing to at least try to keep up with the accumulating snow. I did not see that at all yesterday. Also it seems that the most critical areas should be treated first, like the Thurbers Ave. curve on 95 North and all major on ramps.

Yesterday was ridiculous. They should have released the children from school before the storm even started. Wouldn't they think that businesses and other facilities might be closing around that time, too??? It's not like RI has never had a bad storm before. This was not organized very well. The roads were terrible--I know that's because of the timing of the storm, which didn't give the plow trucks time to plow the roads. I was stuck in that horrific traffic for 6 hours and there was a plow truck right behind me with his plow raised--not even plowing the roads--I was suffering going through all of the snow on smith hill. Was he waiting for me to get stuck in the snow--I don't understand where all of our tax dollars are going??? People were leaving their cars behind and walking to the nearest home that they know of. My sister's friend left her car next to the Coca Cola Company and walked to a friend's house. Thank goodness her baby wasn't with her.

Plain and simple.
Lack of leadership at every level of goverment. This is what happens when you hire people based on your relationship with them and not their qualifications. Ms Lt. Gov, what do you do anyway?

I agree with several points from the previous emails. 1.) Why is the Lt Governor pointing the finger at Carcieri? Isn't she supposed to be in charge while he is away? 2.) There have been winters where we have had plenty of storms, businesses and schools were let out early and, although slow going, traffic moved along and commuters arrived home in a reasonable amount of time (I have commuted home from Providence to South Kingstown or Westerly for the past 20 years). 3.)I also saw no plows or DOT/other trucks treating the roads, plowing, etc. during yesterday's storm (no radio announcements on traffic/weather conditions, either - I want traffic/weather reports, not Christmas carols -thanks Lite 105 and B101). Just plain gridlock and dangerous driving conditions. I, fortunately, made the right decision (after 2 hours in that mess) to forget about going home and instead spend the night at a friend's home in Cranston (it took me ~2 1/2 hours to travel from Providence to Cranston and I left work at 12:20pm). On the last leg of my trip, I was again stuck in gridlock and was at the point where I simply wanted to abandon my car and walk the couple of miles to his house. In desperation, I decided to make a run for it up a steep hill (Phenix Ave)- made it, and was able to arrive at my friend's a bit later. If I had remained where I was, I would have been there for hours.

Re: the school children who spent hours on the buses - what a travesty! There is NO EXCUSE for what happened to those children. I cannot imagine how scared and hungry those children were, how anxious their parents must have been (a friend of a co-worker tracked down her child's bus via the bus company's GPS system, drove to the area and took her children off of the bus), how weary the bus driver and monitors must have been, etc. No surprise that today, Providence school buses pulled up to schools empty. Yes, the school department should have staggered the elementary, middle school dismissals, however, if the roads had been taken care of (e.g., not pre-treated a half-hour before the snow started falling, plows out and about at the ready)it would not have mattered that much that the children were all dismissed at 12:30pm.

I have had more problems getting home during snow storms the past 2-3 years (out of 20)- I question why. Are the cities/state trying to cut costs, are the people in charge inept, what? We have fewer serious snow storms now than in many previous years, however, the response has been horrible. I hope that yesterday's mess proves a wake-up call to those in charge. I'm beginning to fear driving every time it snows.

It is my understanding that the Lieutenant Governor is empowered to act in the Governor's absence or if the Governor is incapacitated ... and I would consider Iraq as most definitely being absent from the State. It is also my understanding that the Emergency Management Advisory Council (RIEMAC) is chaired by the Lieutenant Governor.

So, what is it that you don't understand about your duties, Lieutenant Governor Roberts?? Or, since your Office is apparently powerless, why don't we just eliminate it along with the entire cadre of political appointees that staff it ... and apply the savings to the state deficit??

Enough of your disingenuous grandstanding ... just do your job (whatever it may be)!!

Driving from 495 in MA things were a piece of cake... slow going, but manageable. AS SOON as I hit the RI border on 95S is when it all went to hell.

From Wrentham, MA to Smith Street in 7 HOURS.

Just the other day I observed a state plow truck rolling down 95 sending sparks flying while plowing NOTHING. There was no snow, and it wasn't snowing.

WTF IS GOING ON HERE?

the more things change, the more they stay the same
In 78 the same incompetent line of thinking was in effect all the schools, and all the businesses let out at once. the result was the same: a mess, gridlock and generally a bad time for all. 30 yrs have taught us that R I is again guilty of not learning from the past.

Rhode Island never ceases to embarass me!

Ms. Roberts, correct me if I'm wrong, but when the governor is away, you're *supposed to* take charge.

This is the Classic Rhode Island Excuse: It was 's responsibility! Don't blame me!

When will the idiots that run this state start taking responsibility and doing their jobs? Don't dare blame Governor Carcieri. He was in Iraq supporting our troops, while the rest of the people--who are supposed to be taking care of us, the ones who pay their salary--were sitting at home on their asses watching television.

It was terrible all the way around. What about the kids that go to special schools like Meeting Street School, what about those poor kids that can't even speak for themselves I almost cried last night. What a nighmare. The sides streets in Providence are not even plowed at all, what is going on with the city of Providence?

It was unbelievable. I have lived in Rhode Island for 15 years and never saw such disorganization. I walked from Kennedy Plaza home and it took me 45 minutes. It was beautiful but the road rage was incredible. EMA should have been called to handle this.

The National weather service forcasted the snow to begin around 12-1pm and when the snow did start it would start heavy. That forcast was the night before so the state government, schools and businesses are all to blame.

Major Gen. Robert T. Bray is misinformed if he thinks the problem was confined to "just the Greater Providence area." Things did not go well in North Kingstown. Usually the plow guys are out promptly, but they did not appear in our area until the roads were in bad condition for hours. And then the plowing job, usually excellent, was a mess, with half the road left full of ice and slush. They are still a mess. I saw one plow headed out from the Quonset area at a snail's pace, and it wasn't even plowing. I don't know where it was headed, but at that pace it could have plowed anyway and helped out.

I personally am very dissapointed in my fellow Rhode Islanders. I left the city late in the day and it took 1 1/2 hrs just to make it 1 mile down Atwells ave. Drivers were so rude, blocking every intersection they could. Pulling out of side streets to get in the opposite lane, which wasn't moving therefore blocking the other lane completely. Pure selfishness and lack of manners! Once I was off Atwells, I found rte 6 plowed, 295 fine and all the back roads through Situate and Coventry wonderful! It only took about 40 minutes to go the next 15 miles. We can't always blame the DOT workers or the Politicians.

Schools never should have opened in the first place. The storm was forecast as delivered. They, the schools, just want to be able to count it as a school day and not have to make it up. Did the kids learn anything? No wonder RI kids are so far behind.