ATLANTA — This time no one is taking any chances.

After being widely mocked for their slow response in a region that was paralyzed by two inches of snow and ice in late January, officials in Georgia are trying to take the opposite approach with a new storm that is predicted to be more severe. Meteorologists say it is likely to paralyze Atlanta again and bring up to eight inches of snow to mountainous regions to the north and as much as an inch of ice to heavily populated parts of Georgia and South Carolina.

The height of the storm is not expected until early Wednesday. But much of the region is already shutting down as politicians and public works crews vow there will not be a repeat of a Jan. 28 storm, popularly called Snow Jam 2.

A failure to anticipate the storm, followed by a slow and uncoordinated response by government officials, was blamed for the catastrophe, which left tens of thousands of people trapped in offices and in their cars on icy Interstates overnight and thousands of children stuck in schools and on buses.

As a result, the political reputations of both Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia, a Republican facing re-election this year, and Mayor Kasim Reed of Atlanta, a fast-rising political star in the Democratic Party, were hurt.