A report by Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts that will be submitted to the governor’s office this week contains recommendations for creating a statewide system during storms and other emergencies to coordinate school and business closings and keep the public better informed during emergencies.

The report is a reaction to the Dec. 13 snowstorm that left motorists in hours-long gridlock throughout Greater Providence and stranded more than 100 Providence children on school buses well into the night.

“What actually happened here was it exposed things that we hadn’t thought about,” Roberts said yesterday. “What citizens care about is that the system works. They care less about who’s at fault.”

As chairwoman of the Emergency Management Advisory Council, she directed Maj. Gen. Robert T. Bray, the state adjutant general and director of the state Emergency Management Agency, to work with her on developing solutions. The report will be discussed at an advisory council meeting at 2 p.m. tomorrow in East Providence City Hall.

The report offers recommendations to inform the public and coordinate with businesses and schools, including using the Rhode Island Broadcasters’ Association for notifications to employees and the public. During a more recent storm, the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce used its own contact system to relay to member employers the EMA’s recommendation to delay business openings.

But the report doesn’t address the question of who is ultimately in charge of handling an emergency when the governor is away.

The Dec. 13 storm arrived as predicted in the middle of a weekday, as schools released students early and some area businesses dismissed their employees, even as snow was falling at a rate of 1 to 3 inches an hour. The result was crippling gridlock that lasted into the night and affected Providence and some surrounding cities.

At the time, Governor Carcieri was on a plane in the Middle East. He has said he wouldn’t expect his staff to contact him about a “6- to-10-inch snowstorm.” Under the state Constitution, the governor retains his authority no matter where he is; it does not, for example, vest the lieutenant governor with such authority in the governor’s absence.

Carcieri’s chief of staff, Brian Stern, and Bray decided against opening the state Emergency Operations Center, which would have placed state officials in the same room together to handle the storm response. Roberts said she asked them to open the center but that the governor’s office refused. Since encountering criticism upon his return to Rhode Island, Carcieri designated Bray to be in charge of dealing with weather emergencies when he is out of state.

Roberts said she did not address the issue in her report because it has become a statutory matter before the General Assembly. Two bills propose to give the power to the lieutenant governor, either every time the governor is away or when he or she is out of the continental United States.

Roberts’ report doesn’t address the actions of state government. Some departments weren’t communicating with one another during the storm.

The state DOT refused to send anyone to the Emergency Operations Center and did not directly communicate with the state EMA. Providence officials didn’t alert the state about the gridlock in the city. E-911 got 911 calls about Providence children on buses as early as 4:13 p.m.; while the calls were passed on to city agencies, state agencies were not alerted to the problem.

Bray, who had called out sick but remained in charge and in contact with the state EMA, notified the agency about the children four hours later. In an e-mail viewed by The Journal, Bray e-mailed then-executive director Robert J. Warren at 8:06 p.m.: “Bob, need to find out if/how many school buses with kids are still out there. Need to ensure a priority for getting them off the road.”

Warren e-mailed back: “I have RISP [Rhode Island State Police] checking on the buses. Do you have a location?”

Bray didn’t respond, Warren said later. Barely an hour later, Warren found out where the children were when an angry grandfather contacted the EMA and said there was a bus stuck on Valley Street in Providence.

Warren found out from the Providence police that there were actually 60 buses still stuck in traffic — but the city refused his offers for help.

The Roberts report includes Bray’s recent directive to the cities and towns to report in to the EMA every day on the resources and weather in their community. But the unanswered question is what the state can do with that information.

Roberts’ report calls for more communication and coordination between the state and the cities and towns. None of the cities and towns asked for help during the Dec. 13 storm. Some even plowed state roads. The performance of the DOT isn’t addressed in Roberts’ report — even though commuters stuck in gridlock for hours complained that the neither the electronic highway signs nor the DOT highway advisory radio station mentioned the snowstorm or the traffic. Roberts acknowledged yesterday that there was still work to be done within state government. However, she said, “I think what’s really important is that citizens need to know that local and state government are working together.”

amilkovi@projo.com