Before moving to Indiana I lived in the snow belt in Erie County PA. Until the lake froze each year, (and again when it thawed,) it was common to get 4 to 8 inches of snow every 4 days or so. It was not unusual to get 12 inch snowstorms back to back. Hauling it away in trucks was just a part of life. The state, county, and townships did a great job as long as the snowfall was less than an inch an hour or under 2 feet total, but that was about the tipping point for problems.
Here in central Indiana we got about 12 inches last Tue/Wed. Some rural counties declared emergencies for a day or so, but the state did a great job keeping the interstates open. The city of Indianapolis did a good job keeping the main emergency routs open, but the secondary streets were pretty rough for a couple days, and most of the side streets have still not been plowed 4 days later. I live on a secondary street, so my dirveway was plowed shut 4 times over 3 days.
When a city like Atlanta gets an inch or so, it is paralyzed. No salt, few plows, inexperienced drivers, no snow tires, etc.