The Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, declared a state of emergency on Tuesday starting Thursday at 7: am until midnight on Friday before the passage of Hurricane Ian.
The declaration will allow state resources to be activated to protect the state from the heavy rains and strong winds that are predicted. Up to 500 soldiers of the National Guard will also be deployed to attend to the emergency.
The alert A storm surge warning was issued for the entire Georgia coast and a tropical storm warning was issued for several southern counties in the state, Fox News reported.
It is forecast that the southeast of the state would receive between four to six inches of rain, while in other areas of Georgia it would reach eight inches, which will be accompanied by flash floods, power and damaging winds that would affect the entire state.
“The best case scenario is that it continues to move off the coast, and that after crossing Florida, it continues in that pattern to the east and we get part of the western side of the cone,” said the director of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), James Stallings.
The worst case scenario is where it is now. It’s going to dump a lot of wind and rain on our state,” Stallings added at the press conference.
The state of emergency is issued after Governor Kemp ordered the activation of the State Operations Center on Monday to prepare for any climatic event.
“I want to thank Director Stallings and his team, as well as our emergency management partners across the state who are ready to ensure that Georgia is prepared for whatever this major storm system may bring,” Kemp specified on Monday.
The Florida Keys began this Tuesday to sanctify the rains that precede Hurricane Ian, which is expected to arrive this Monday in the coastal area.
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the greatest threat to the keys is storm surge, which could raise sea levels between two and four feet, causing flooding on normally dry coasts. Likewise, all the keys present a tornado threat.