Indeed, I do not see what the fuss is about. In my youth, we had regular winters of 20, 18, 36 inch snow falls, and while there may have been some traffic at the supermarkets, there was no panic, and anyone with brains would wait it out, and those without would be towed. I had never heard of an outright ban on driving, there were posted roads with red signs where you could not stop. I remember getting by foot to the NYC subway in 18 inches, getting to Port Authority and getting out to NJ by bus. The trip did not complete successfully due to it being erev shabbos, and the plows on the highway were having trouble. I have taken people to JFK in my truck with zippy chains, it was then 10 inches going to twenty, the plane took off, and I got home safely. Today it seems local government is Big Poppa Dear Leader, that takes us all for fools, maybe they partially right