Gov. Kemp declares State of Emergency ahead of Hurricane Ian

ATLANTA — As Hurricane Ian bears down on the Florida coast, parts of Georgia area also preparing for potential impacts from the storm.

Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a State of Emergency statewide due to the potential of flooding, downed trees, powerlines and debris starting Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

Severe Weather Team 2′s Brad Nitz said Georgia will likely see heavy rain and gusty winds by the end of the week, though it’s still too soon to know exactly what impacts we could see.

Hurricane Ian is expected to strengthen to a major Category 4 storm before traveling up Florida’s western coast.

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Here’s the latest on hurricane preparations in Georgia:

8:28 p.m.

The latest update from the National Weather Service has Hurricane Ian with max sustained winds of 120 MPH. The latest track has the storm making landfall just north of Fort Meyers on Wednesday afternoon.

Major coastal and inland flooding should be expected in central Florida.

In metro Atlanta, we can expect 25 to 35 MPH gusts on Friday night into Saturday morning. The eastern counties will see 40 to 45 MPH wind gusts if Ian stays on the current track.

6:07 p.m.

Atlanta Public Schools has announced that it will move a junior varsity football game scheduled for Thursday to Wednesday, one varsity game to earlier Thursday, three Friday games to Thursday and one Saturday game to Thursday.

South Atlanta vs. KIPP Atlanta Collegiate’s junior varsity game will move from Thursday to Wednesday at South Atlanta.

B.E.S.T. Academy vs. Mount Paran Christian will move from Thursday at 8 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. at Henderson Stadium. Mays Vs. Creekside will move to Thursday at Henderson Stadium. Douglass vs. Jackson will move from Friday to Thursday at Red Devil Hill Stadium in Jackson, Ga. Therrell vs. Washington will move from Friday to Thursday at Lakewood stadium. South Atlanta vs. KIPP Atlanta Collegiate will move from Saturday to Thursday at Lakewood Stadium.

5:09 p.m.

Paulding County has moved all of its four Friday night football games to Thursday.

5:08 p.m.

Traffic is heavier than usually as people evacuate Florida and head to Georgia:

4:06 p.m.

Hurricane Ian is now in the southeast Gulf of Mexico.

4:05 p.m.

Fulton County has rescheduled its annual Joan P. Garner Walk and Health fair scheduled this weekend to next weekend.

4:04 p.m.

White County schools has moved its homecoming football game to Thursday.

3:29 p.m.

Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a State of Emergency statewide ahead of the storm. The declaration makes all of the resources of the state of Georgia available to assist in preparation, response and recovery activities in affected regions.

The order also allows the Georgia Department of Defense to deploy up to 500 National Guard troops.

“Damaging winds will be possible statewide, even well away from the center of the storm, and downed trees and powerlines are possible statewide on Friday and Saturday,” Kemp said in a statement. “Widespread rainfall of 2 to 4 inches is also possible statewide, with 4 to 6 inches or more forecast in Southeast Georgia. Flash flooding, power outages, and other dangerous situations are possible, especially in Southeast Georgia.”

3:12 p.m.

Nine DeKalb County regional football games have been moved to Thursday due to impending severe weather.

3:05 p.m.

Barrow County schools said their two traditional high schools, Apalachee and Winder-Barrow will move Friday night football games to Thursday evening. Newton will also move their high school football games at Eastside and Newton to Thursday night.

2:40 p.m.

All Friday night football games in Cherokee County have been moved to Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.

2:15 p.m.

Clayton County Public Schools will move to remote learning on Friday in anticipation of hazardous weather. All students will participate in independent learning from home and staff will work remotely.

2:13 p.m.

Gov. Brian Kemp will soon declare a state of emergency for the entire state due to the potential for strong winds, emergency management officials said in a news conference Tuesday

12 p.m.

In coastal Georgia, a Tropical Storm Warning on the U.S. east coast has been extended north to include Glynn and Camden counties. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Chatham and McIntosh counties.

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Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Brian Monahan gets latest tracking on Hurricane Ian Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Brian Monahan is tracking Hurricane Ian as it gets closer to making landfall.

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