SAVANNAH — Gov. Nathan Deal lifted mandatory evacuation orders for coastal Georgia residents today, allowing thousands displaced by Hurricane Mathew to return home starting at 5 p.m.
In Savannah, Chatham County Commission Chairman Albert Scott urged residents to be careful if they choose to return today. Many stores and homes are still without power or water, he said. Tybee Island, connected to Savannah by a causeway that was partly submerged during the storm, will reopen at 5, but the National Guard will require proof of residence or property ownership before letting people return.
Other barrier islands, including St. Simons, Jekyll and Sea Island will remain closed for now. Deal’s action today applies mostly to the mainland portions of Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty and McIntosh counties. In addition, the governor noted, local officials may still impose their own restrictions – and incoming evacuees may not have power, water, sewage or “critical life-sustaining services or infrastructure.”
In a press conference in Savannah, Deal said Georgia did not take as severe a blow from Hurricane Matthew as many had feared, but much clean-up work remains.
Deal said a helicopter tour of the coast Sunday showed many downed trees and damage to roofs, “but it is not of the magnitude that I had perhaps anticipated. That is of course a good thing.”
The governor also visited Brunswick in Glynn County, but he faced some hostility there because of confusion Saturday over when residents could come home. Local officials put out word Saturday afternoon that the mainland part of Glynn was now open. But when residents arrived on I-95, they were turned away by state troopers, who said the evacuation order had not been lifted. Many residents were furious.
One Brunswick woman told the AJC Saturday night that she and her husband wished they had ignored the evacuation order and stayed home — rather than coming back to town and having to find a route that enabled them to sneak past the State Patrol.
“There was some confusion,” Deal said Sunday. He said not all bridges had been inspected so the evacuation order remained in place.
“Obviously we would have liked to avoid that confusion. … but we were taking precautions. Sometimes deaths and injuries after a hurricane are worse than before. “
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, appearing with the governor today, said the storm “was a real tragedy in a lot of ways … but we were able to survive this with minimal damage. The cleanup is going to be tough. Let me encourage everyone to be patient.”
Deal also said President Barack Obama had approved federal disaster aid for 30 Georgia counties. The state has begun calculating the cost of the storm, he said, but it was too early even to estimate the total damage from Matthew.
Many thousands of Georgians fled Matthew, and Deal said the evacuations saved lives. Deal and coastal officials urged returning residents to proceed with caution, particularly on local roads that remain treacherous with debris and flooding.
U.S. Sen. David Perdue, a resident of Glynn County, said he and his family followed the evacuation orders and asked for residents to be patient as it will take time for people to return home.
“We kept most people out of harm’s way,” he said.
Georgia Power said 190,000 customers were still without electricity as of 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
In Chatham, city and county officials urged returning residents to bring cash, warning that even if stores reopen, merchants may not be able to process credit cards for a time.
The eastbound lanes of I-16, the interstate running from Macon to Savannah, were expected to reopen to eastbound traffic today. The lanes had been reversed to westbound to provide more capacity for evacuees.
In Chatham County, a curfew remains in place.
“For those who are planning to return, please drive safely, please be aware of the 10 o’clock curfew,” Scott said. “The other thing to be aware of is that there are still downed power lines and there is still standing water. [People] should not wade water in their car or on foot and they should steer clear of downed power lines. If you have a downed power line in the vicinity of water, it could be electrified, we don’t want any more fatalities.”
At least four people died in Georgia a result of the storm, a Category 2 hurricane when it swept up the state’s coast early Saturday. There have been additional deaths linked to Matthew in Florida and the Carolinas. The storm made landfall near McClellanville, S.C.
Red Cross officials late Saturday opened a shelter at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center on Hutchinson Island for residents who can’t reach their home because of impassable streets or those whose residences were left uninhabitable by Hurricane Matthew. County officials are working with the Red Cross to open additional shelters.
On Saturday night, Georgia National Guard members were staging at Savannah’s civic center. A representative of the guard said the unit would expand to 300 service members who will aid Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police in patrols of the city.
Also Saturday night, the Georgia Ports Authority, which runs bustling shipping centers in Savannah and Brunswick, said power had been restored “to many of the cranes and yard equipment at the container terminal and the information technology system is up and running. Power has begun to be restored to Savannah’s distribution and logistics partners.”
The authority said it is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard to help open the Savannah River as soon as possible.
A date to reopen its facilities has not been determined.
Helpful Links
There are other Red Cross shelters in the state for displaced residents, Savannah officials said. They are:
Southeastern Technical College, 251 S. Richardson Street, Mount Vernon.
Good Samaritan, 407 Farm Street, Wadley
East Laurens High School, 920 Highway 80 East, East Dublin
Dublin High School, 1127, Hillcrest Parkway, Dublin
Macon City Auditorium, 415 First Street, Macon
