With a handful of days remaining in office, Virginia Democratic Governor Ralph Northam took to WRVA to blame stranded motorists — presumably including Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) — for Northam’s failure to lead during this week snow event.
Northam did not like WRVA asking about I-95 backup. "I don't know why you're sitting there saying 'what went wrong.' … Why don't you start asking some of these individuals that were out on the highways … why did you feel it was so important to drive through such a snowstorm?"
— Patrick Wilson (@patrickmwilson) January 6, 2022
Remarkably, no one in the Richmond press corps is putting up with the explanations as to why VDOT was not ready for what was expected to be a sizeable but not apocalyptic weather event.
Speaker-designee Todd Gilbert asked the Governor’s Office to activate the Virginia National Guard while hundreds of motorists and children were stranded on I-95. Northam initially dithered, but eventually activated the Guard as power had yet to be restored to thousands of Virginians as of Thursday.
Weather forecasts are predicting an additional 3-6 inches of global warming snow across Central Virginia this evening, creating additional hazards on already treacherous and icy roads.
Sources tell TRS that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) are working overtime to resolve the problem and grating as Northam continues to shift the blame to others — but not his own failure to act decisively.
Dominon Energy continues to work around the clock to restore power in conjunction with other electric co-ops and their linemen from outside of Virginia.