Hurricane Florence is now a Category 2 storm with sustained winds dropping to 105 mph. Still, National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham says there is nothing "minor" about this hurricane. Water causes the most deaths during tropical storms and hurricanes, and Florence is expected to cause dangerous flooding.
The National Weather Service is predicting the possibility of high winds and torrential rain this weekend; state agencies are preparing for Florence’s impact on the Peach state.
Governor Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for all 159 Georgia counties Wednesday due to possible impact from Hurricane Florence.
Dr. John Knox is a professor of Geography at UGA.
“That doesn’t mean that we panic. It just means that we take actions ahead of this to prepare for what’s coming,” Knox says, “And again, what’s coming will not be a major hurricane, that’s the threat for the North Carolina coastline, but more rain, some winds, maybe some power outages and some trees down late in the weekend or early next week. So we’ve got a few days to prepare.”
Knox says Athenians can find information about the storms’ possible effects here.
“We have a website called Athens, Ga weather, athensgaweather.com, for Athens-centric information and forecasts. We’ll be posting on social media and also on the website.”
Georgia has already seen evacuees fleeing Florence stream into the state.
