Georgia’s coast is under a tropical storm warning as Hurricane Milton charges toward Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday.
Most of Georgia will dodge the storm, which is expected to make landfall between Tampa Bay and Fort Myers late Wednesday or early Thursday. Georgia’s far-southeast cities, some of which are still grappling with power outages and heavy damage from Helene, could again be whipped by 30-40 mph winds and 2 to 6 inches of rain that could cause flash flooding late Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center predicts.
Gov. Brian Kemp said Milton’s impact in Georgia “won’t be anything like” that of Helene but warned residents in the southeast corner of the state to stock up on extra water and food to last a couple of days in case they temporarily lose power or roads are blocked.
Florida residents are evacuating, with many headed to Georgia hotels and campgrounds.
[9:15 a.m.]: Home Depot said Wednesday morning that it had closed 36 of its Florida stores that were in the direct path of Hurricane Milton.
The Vinings-based home improvement giant said that 50 other stores would be closing early during the day as the huge storm approached the coast.
Additionally, as of 8 a.m. Wednesday, GasBuddy is reporting that 22.8% of the stations in Florida are out of gasoline.
[Original story] Kemp encouraged Floridians to seek shelter in North Georgia or Alabama as resources remain strained in the South Georgia communities hit hardest after Helene. Cities like Atlanta, Columbus, Macon and Albany were preparing to receive hundreds of evacuees.
“I’m already hearing hotel rooms are full all the way to the metro Atlanta area,” Kemp said Tuesday. “So people are going to have to either keep going north or turn and go back into parts of Alabama to try to find hotel rooms or places that they can stay.”
Georgia’s interstates saw large increases in traffic volume Tuesday, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation. Volume on I-75, for example, was four times higher than historical averages, but despite the increased traffic, highway speeds remained normal, GDOT said.
GDOT told drivers to call 511 to get traffic conditions, find out about evacuation routes or request roadside assistance.
In anticipation of Milton, the state of emergency, in place since Hurricane Helene, for counties near the Florida and South Carolina borders, as well as near the coast, has been extended.
“For as long as needed, we will work with those on the local level to ensure resources are available for those who need them following this devastating storm,” Kemp wrote on X.
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