Almost two inches of ice have covered the roads between Atlanta and Augusta and it’s only going to get worse, National Weather Service meteorologist told other emergency responders during the morning briefing at the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
At least two Department of Natural Resources trucks headed to Mistletoe State Park in east Georgia with supplies are stuck and the DNR officers took shelter at a nearby store.
Around 8,300 “customers” are already without power.
“Alright guys, this is it,” said Charlie Dawson, the special operations center manager. “It’s happening. What’s been predicted for several days, what we’ve been planning for, for several days is happening now. We’ll have frozen precipitation falling for 24 hours. It’ll be a busy day.”
Meteorologist Rick Davis said 1.34 inches of ice had fallen between Atlanta and Augusta by 7 a.m. today. The Georgia mountains got two inches of “heavy wet snow. From now through tomorrow, all day, we’ll have icing from metro Atlanta along I-20,” Davis said.
“Icing is underway now and it’s going to continue all day.”
By Thursday morning, a thick layer of ice covering much of the state will also have a top layer of snow, he said.
The frozen rain and snow should stop around 10 a.m. Thursday but it will still be cold so the “ice will stay,” Davis warned.
The morning briefing also included reports from various agencies.
• More than 620 Georgia National Guard soldiers and 150 Department of Defense vehicles were deployed overnight. Some delivered supplies to warming stations and cots, blankets and personal care kits to Whitfield and Banks counties and the iced-in Augusta area.
• 80 trucks carrying repair crews were dispatched, most of them to east Georgia. Law enforcement escorts led repair crews to Augusta.
• The “I-20 corridor” between Atlanta and Augusta is “deteriorating pretty quickly.”
• Eleven shelters took in 116 people overnight. There are 25 more that will open if there is a need.
• Chainsaw crews were sent to the Gainesville and Augusta areas to remove debris that could block power repair crews and rescuers.
• According to the Georgia State Patrol, 89 Georgia Power trucks, escorted by troopers, are trying to set up at Fort Gordon as a staging area for repairs to down lines in the Augusta area but the main gate to the military post won’t open. Downed power lines have cut off electricity there.
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