President declares state of emergency in Georgia

The eye of the storm was about 40 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla., just before 6:40 a.m., Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton said.

RELATED: See Hurricane Matthew’s projected path.

Before 6 a.m., St. Marys, near the Florida border, was seeing light but steady rain and wind.

But the storm in coastal Georgia will undoubtedly get stronger throughout the day. CNN reported strong bands of Matthew are hitting NASA’s facilities at Cape Canaveral, Fla., with hurricane force gales and Jacksonville television stations are reporting some tropical storm-force winds in the St. Augustine area.

Christina Bankovich wasn’t taking any chances. The St. Simons Island resident loaded up her three cats and fled inland late Thursday to get ahead of Matthew’s expected arrival.

She said Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s message Thursday that those who stay might die was enough warning for her. Then came the mandatory evacuation order for St. Simons, where Bankovich lives two blocks from the water. She said she was warned about a storm surge of 11 feet.

“They just said leave, go away,” she said of officials.

Bankovich said she was headed to a church shelter in Jesup after having no luck with local hotels.

“St. Simons has gotten close calls,” she said of past storms. “Usually it goes to Jacksonville and then out to Savannah, but we escape it. But maybe not this time.”

Following a death toll the New York Times reported was more than 280 in Haiti, the National Weather Service issued flash flood watches and hurricane warnings for counties including Bryan, Chatham, McIntosh and Liberty.

Because of the storm threat, the University of Georgia rescheduled its Saturday football game against the University of South Carolina to Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

"Due to the potential impact of the hurricane on Columbia and the surrounding area, it is in the best interest of safety to play the game on Sunday rather than Saturday night," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a news release.

The game-day change came after Deal expanded a state of emergency from 13 to 30 counties in the southeastern region of the state.

He also put into action another 300 National Guard troops, called for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas west of I-95 and ordered more than 500,000 residents to evacuate Chatham, Bryan, Liberty, McIntosh, Glynn and Camden counties.

Governors in three other states — Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina — also declared states of emergency and issued evacuation orders.

Matthew, which Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan called the strongest storm in the Atlantic in a decade, has already forced millions to flee from their homes.

Georgia has not had a direct hit from a hurricane in more than a century.

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.”

Government buildings were boarded up on Tybee Island, where a mandatory evacuation went into effect at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Chatham urged residents of all three islands and low lying areas east of the Wilmington River to evacuate Thursday. 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.

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 evacuated students Thursday.

More than 2,500 flights had been canceled as of Thursday and Fort Lauderdale airport shut down, according to ABC News.

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

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ATLANTA FORECAST

Today: Windy. Mostly cloudy. High: 78

Tonight: Chance of showers and thunderstorms. Low: 64

Tomorrow: Windy. Partly cloudy. High: 83

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

While heavy downpours will likely drench coastal Georgia, metro Atlanta is only expected to get a few sprinkles and clouds Friday.

“Most of us will be staying dry,” Minton said.

A 30 percent chance of rain is in effect but will disappear by Saturday.

“Tomorrow could be a little windier with some winds up to 20 and 30 miles per hour,” Minton said.

Atlanta could reach a high of 78 degrees Friday, and temperatures could increase to the low 80s this weekend.

By Monday, parts of metro Atlanta could return to the upper 70s, Minton said.

Temperatures were 67 degrees in Atlanta, 54 in Blairsville and 67 in Griffin just before 6:30 a.m.