On Monday, Gov. Abigail Spanberger updated the Commonwealth on the winter storm, and thanked response teams and those who were cooperative with the cleanup efforts.
“I want to thank all Virginians for making such a concerted effort to be part of our response to this extraordinary winter storm that hit all of Virginia.
We are now here on Monday looking at what happened over the weekend and what we can expect this coming week.
I want to begin by thanking all Virginians for making such a concerted effort to stay off the roads. We saw a reduction of travel on our interstates of more 80 percent. That matters.
That matters because it meant that VDOT was able to get their plows, their contractors, their personnel out on the roads, plowing unobstructed by vehicles.
It means that Virginia State Police had far fewer crashes and disabled vehicles to respond to.
It meant that operations could stay on track, aggressively getting snowfall and sleet off the roads.
So please if you are going to get out of the house and you are going to get out on roads, please be cognizant that there will be additional ice. And if you can stay off the roads, particularly at night, please do so.
VDOT will continue to do its extraordinary work clearing those roads and making them safe for travel, but this will be a continual process throughout the week.
I want to thank everybody who has put such an incredible effort towards the response to the storm: Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Virginia Department of Transportation, Virginia State Police, Virginia National Guard, Virginia Department of Health, and all of our other state agencies who were working 24-hours a day focused on ensuring we were protecting Virginians and getting the Commonwealth back on track as soon as the storm was over.
Thank you again for heeding the warnings. Thank you again for staying off the roads when you could — it has allowed for a much faster ability to address the storm and clear the roads.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
Gov. Abigail Spanberger