On The Storm: N.J. Hardest Hit, Gov. Christie: Don’t “Drive Like Idiots”

The winter storm has arrived. Much of the tri-state this morning was under a number of weather alerts and advisories issued by the National Weather Service, with New Jersey being the most heavily affected. By the afternoon, however, the worst of the storm already passed by New York, with only parts of the Garden State still under Coastal Flood Advisories, Winter Storm and Blizzard Warnings.

Cleaning up after the nor’easter that’s dumped several inches of snow on New Jersey will be costly.

But Gov. Chris Christie says he’s currently more concerned about public safety than economics.

“Our No. 1 job right now is protecting our citizens,” Christie said during a news conference in Cherry Hill this afternoon, adding “we’ll worry about (the cleanup costs) afterward.”

The governor also had harsh words for commercial truck drivers, urging them to slow down and “not drive like idiots” while traveling through New Jersey.

Dozens of accidents and spinouts have been reported, but no fatalities, state police said.

Christie traveled across the state today on the New Jersey Turnpike to assess the storm’s damage.

And he’ll visit Atlantic and Cape May counties tomorrow to assess conditions in those hard-hit areas and decide whether he should declare a state of emergency.

But he said that decision won’t be made until tomorrow at the earliest.

Christie took office as Governor of New Jersey on January 19, 2010.

{CBS/Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}