More News

A politician's response to a snowstorm can mean the difference between re-election and riding out the next blizzard as a private citizen, according to political observers.

Residents expect elected officials to keep them informed during a storm — but the true test of their leadership is whether the roads are plowed and the power is on, said Ronald W. Walters, professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Walters said residents also expect elected officials to tell them how much the storm cost and what the plan is to pay for the response.

Officials said Wednesday they are unsure when they will know the final cost of the storms.

One thing they do know is that it will be expensive, and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) already has reached out to federal officials for aid.

Maryland officials say the weekend storm, which dropped more than 2 feet of snow in some areas, cost as much as $40 million, according to Shaun Adamec, a spokesman for O'Malley. The storm that hit in December cost about $27 million, and officials were not estimating how much Wednesday's storm would cost.

Parts of Maryland received more than 20 inches of snow Wednesday.

As officials work to tally the cost of the record-breaking snowfall, politicians are working to stay in front of the camera, said Matthew A. Crenson, professor emeritus in Johns Hopkins University's political science department.

"They know that this is one of the acid tests for politicians," he said, of the elected officials' response to severe weather.

Crenson said that former Chicago Mayor Michael Anthony Bilandic lost his re-election bid in 1979 because of what was seen as his slow response to a major blizzard that crippled the city that year.

"Public officials learned a lesson from that, so they're always very visible around snowstorms, trying to seem like they're very active," Crenson said.

During a large-scale snowstorm, it is important for politicians to do two things, according to Walters. "People want their streets plowed, so the political people have a role in trying to make people feel at ease and give people some instructions on what to do," Walters said. "And the budget ... they can give some information about how that's going."

Maryland's elected officials have been doing both since the first storm, which began Feb. 5.

County executives and Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) manned snow command centers during both storms. O'Malley visited Montgomery and Prince George's counties Tuesday before traveling back to the state's command center in Reisterstown, said spokesman Shaun Adamec.

Elected officials statewide offered regular media briefings and updates — although, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) canceled a media briefing Wednesday because of the severe weather.

Snowplows and Pepco utility crews also were called off the roads because of severe conditions, but returned about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, said county spokesman Patrick Lacefield.

O'Malley was in regular contact with county officials and spoke Wednesday to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Adamec said.

O'Malley intends to apply for Homeland Security federal disaster relief to help the state pay for its snow response, and Adamec said Napolitano offered to combine the effects of both recent blizzards — which would help the state qualify for funds.

O'Malley will apply once cleanup is complete, Adamec said.

Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson (D) said it was hard to say when that would be.

"It's a mess," he said Wednesday afternoon.

Like other counties, Prince George's County pulled plows off of the roads for hours Wednesday because of treacherous weather conditions. Officials also were coping with broken snowplows and other equipment, Johnson said, adding that the county had hired welders to repair the plows.

He said crews were focusing on clearing primary roads Wednesday, making them passable for emergency crews.

The county also was paying for workers to stay overnight in hotels because they could not make it home. Other storm expenses included additional gasoline, equipment rental and hiring of independent contractors.

Prince George's County also has exhausted its salt supply and is having to go to Baltimore city for more, Johnson said.

About 500 county residents still were without power from the weekend storm, but Wednesday's blizzard caused another 1,500 residents to lose power, he said.

On Wednesday, Johnson said he heard concerns from residents who were frustrated that their roads were not plowed and that their power had not been restored.

One resident accused Johnson of getting his street plowed first. The county executive said his street is on the same schedule as all other neighborhood streets.

But he said, "It's important that I be out in the community and at the snow command center, so they did open a way for me to be here, but there is no priority. We're doing it neighborhood by neighborhood."

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said Tuesday that the county would bring in additional personnel to remove snow "if we can find them."

Lacefield said officials had not begun to speculate about the cost of the storms.

"We're doing what we have to do to get the job done, and then afterward we'll figure out what the cost is," he said.

Roads neglected the first time around will get priority, and all neighborhood roads will be worked by 6 p.m., Leggett said at a briefing at the emergency operations center in Gaithersburg, where he was joined by O'Malley.

There's a big difference between plowing to bare pavement and making roads passable, O'Malley said.

Public safety concerns come first, including making sure people's medical needs are met, and no one is skimping, O'Malley and Leggett said. 

"We all need to act like a community and not a crowd," O'Malley said, adding that "everybody is going to be struggling for the next 48 hours."

Maryland is in a better position than many states to meet the extraordinary costs because its triple A bond rating enables it to borrow at lower rates, O'Malley said.

About 600 Maryland National Guard troops were deployed statewide to assist local law enforcement, Adamec said.

That deployment was made possible by O'Malley's emergency declaration, which was made Feb. 5 and expected to be in effect at least through Wednesday.

Staff Writer Margie Hyslop

contributed to this report.