Georgians, Floridians brace for Hurricane Matthew

Hurricane Matthew, which has already killed nearly 300 people and forced millions to flee from their homes, is approaching the Florida coast.

Matthew, which regained its status as a powerful Category 4 storm Thursday, worked its way through the Bahamas amid forecasters’ predictions it would be near Florida’s Atlantic coast by early Friday and reach coastal Georgia by Saturday morning.

Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Glenn Burns said Matthew is likely to hit land near the areas of Cocoa Beach and Daytona Beach. Matthew could ride the coast of Florida for about 18 hours, according to Channel 2, before making its way to Georgia's coast.

The Georgia and Carolina coasts could get between 10 and 12 inches of rain, Channel 2 reported.

The eye of Matthew was about 120 miles from Cape Canaveral, Fla., with winds at 130 mph and gusts at 160 mph, according Channel 2. A tropical storm warning was issued for parts of southeastern Georgia on Thursday evening.

Matthew, described by Channel 2 meteorologist Brian Monahan as the strongest storm in the Atlantic in a decade, prompted Gov. Nathan Deal to order a mandatory evacuation of six coastal Georgia counties.

Traffic on several Georgia interstates was backed up with evacuees, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. The Georgia Department of Transportation suspended lane closures along I-75 from the Florida/Georgia line to Barrett Parkway in Cobb County through 5 a.m. Saturday to help with the traffic congestion.

Officials closed the eastbound ramps of I-16 near Dublin and had only westbound traffic on the interstate. The traffic was extremely heavy at 6 p.m., Channel 2 reported.

Deal’s evacuation order applied to more than 500,000 residents of Chatham, Bryan, Liberty, McIntosh, Glynn and Camden counties. He also called for the voluntary evacuation of residents of low-lying areas west of I-95.

After closing the eastbound ramps of I-16, the Georgia State Patrol issued a warning to drivers.

“The flow of traffic on I-16 will be converted to only WB as soon as the EB lanes have been cleared,” officials said in Twitter posts. “Don’t drive around traffic barriers. They’ve been put in place for your safety & the safety of other drivers.”

Amtrak suspended train service in its south region from Florida to North Carolina through Saturday. The Silver Star and Silver Meteor routes from New York City to Miami and the Auto Train route from Lorton, Va., to Sanford, Fla., were canceled. No alternate transportation will be provided.

The Palmetto route that runs from New York City to Savannah will operate only between New York City and Washington, D.C.

Matthew’s death toll climbed to 283 in Haiti, The Associated Press reported.

Georgia has not had a direct hit from a hurricane in more than a century. The mandatory evacuation order and I-16 closure came a day after Deal expanded a state of emergency from 13 to 30 counties in the southeastern region of the state.

Governors in three other states — Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina — also declared states of emergency and issued evacuation orders. A motorist shot in an altercation with a South Carolina deputy over a Hurricane Matthew evacuation route died, The AP reported. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for Florida and South Carolina on Thursday evening.

Government buildings were boarded up on Tybee Island, where a mandatory evacuation went into effect Wednesday. Chatham urged residents of all three islands and low lying areas east of the Wilmington River to evacuate starting at 8 a.m. All areas in and about rivers or tributaries were encouraged to evacuate, too.

“Any person that elects not to evacuate should be prepared to ride out the storm in a secure area with three days’ non- perishable provisions and adequate drinking water, given the potential for loss of power for 72 hours or greater,” authorities said.

Georgia’s state of emergency includes Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Pierce, Screven, Tattnall, Treutlen, Toombs, Ware and Wayne counties. Coastal Georgia could get winds up to 70 mph, structural damage and widespread power outages.

Glynn County residents were given a curfew from midnight to 5 a.m Friday, according to a Facebook post by the county's board of commissioners. The curfew will be in place Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

The Red Cross opened 19 shelters Thursday in central and southern Georgia for those displaced by Matthew.

Atlanta Motor Speedway will open its campgrounds to evacuees. Campers will have access to bath facilities with showers and restrooms.

U-Haul is also offering free self-storage for 30 days at several locations in Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas for hurricane victims.

Due to the hurricane, the University of Georgia football game against South Carolina, originally scheduled for Saturday, has been moved to 2:30 p.m. Sunday, according to DawgNation.com. The University of Florida's scheduled game against LSU on Saturday was canceled Thursday afternoon.

Georgia Southern University in Statesboro and Savannah canceled all Friday and Saturday classes and events. Classes and events at Savannah Art of College and Design are canceled through Sunday. The school started evacuating students Thursday.

More than 2,500 flights have been canceled, according to ABC News. Delta Air Lines canceled more than 400 Florida flights Thursday. The Fort Lauderdale and Orlando airports shut down Thursday.

Delta, American, United and JetBlue airlines are offering travelers change fee waivers for hurricane-affected areas.

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Today: Breezy. Mostly sunny. High: 81

Tonight: Mostly clear. Low: 64

Tomorrow: Mostly sunny. High: 78

» For a detailed forecast, visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution weather page.

Amid the hurricane threat along the Georgia Coast, expect dry, breezy and mostly sunny conditions Thursday in metro Atlanta.

“And while it’s not going to be really strong winds today, they’ll be picking up over the next day as that system gets closer to Georgia,” Channel 2 meteorologist Karen Minton said.

More clouds will cover parts of metro Atlanta as Hurricane Matthew approaches coastal Georgia, and the east side could get some rain.

A 20 percent rain chance is in effect for Friday.

Highs reached 81 degrees by 5 p.m. Thursday in Atlanta, then drop to the upper 70s Friday.

Temperatures were 71 degrees in Atlanta, 60 in Blairsville and 69 in Griffin just after 10:40 p.m.