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The Latest: Light Traffic on Georgia Highway in Evacuation

Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP

The Georgia Department of Transportation is reporting light traffic on the interstate highway being used as a one-way evacuation route for coastal residents fleeing Hurricane Dorian .

State officials Tuesday morning turned all lanes of Interstate 16 into an eastbound route from Savannah on the coast to Dublin about 100 miles (160 kilometers) inland.

The state DOT said in a news release the route was seeing "light traffic" Tuesday afternoon and cars were "running at the speed limit."

The agency urged coastal residents to evacuate before traffic on I-16 increased. Forecasters expect Dorian to approach coastal Georgia on Wednesday, most likely with the storm's center staying offshore.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp ordered a mandatory evacuation for the entire Georgia coast beginning Monday. Roughly 540,000 people live in the state's six coastal counties.

Credit AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa
Strong winds from Hurricane Dorian blow the tops of trees and brush while whisking up water from the surface of a canal that leads to the sea, located behind the brush at top, seen from the balcony of a hotel in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Monday,

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