Georgians react with skepticism, anxiety on social media as Irma makes its way through Georgia

Downtown Valdosta was mostly empty as residents stayed home under encouragement from Lowndes County officials.

After nonstop news coverage of the ravaging effects of Hurricane Irma in Florida and the Caribbean, Georgia is set to experience the weakened yet still fierce impact of Tropical Storm Irma Monday and Tuesday.

» RELATED: Irma kills power to 1 million on  Georgia coast and across Georgia

The storm, which was reduced from hurricane status Monday, has already knocked out power to more than 41 million Georgia Power and EMC customers in South and Middle Georgia. In metro Atlanta, heavy downpours were enveloping neighborhoods by early Monday morning.

“Through our early morning hours, heavy downpours will be starting, bands of rain will come through, strong winds will begin to pick up in the area, and we could have as much as 4 to 6 or more inches of rain across North Georgia,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton said this morning.

With stalwart agencies such as MARTA suspending services, the potential gravity of Irma seems inevitable.

Those enduring the beginnings of the storm in metro Atlanta and parts of Georgia voiced skepticism, concerns and anxiety about one of the most powerful storms to hit the state.

Reports of storm damage came in Monday afternoon through Metro Atlanta.

Savannah and Hilton Head residents are bracing for the next days as flooding has encompassed their neighborhoods.

In Houston County, Georgia, the tropical storm has brought in rapid winds.

Elsewhere in Georgia, the 60 mph winds had blown over everything from roofs to gas pumps.

Wish I had a storm buddy

😩

— Layla Skyy (@_PinkStoner)

Some spectators in Atlanta were still not convinced of just how destructive Irma would be in Georgia.

Earlier Monday in metro Atlanta, shutting down MARTA caused lots of frustration.