At a Glance
- Evacuations are set to start Tuesday in Georgia and South Carolina.
- Schools, government offices and colleges across the region were closed.
- States of emergency were declared in Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia.
- First evacuation orders were issued in North Carolina on Monday.
Evacuations were ordered, schools closed and states of emergency declared as states braced for impacts from Hurricane Dorian.
"I cannot stress enough – this storm is still moving, it’s massive," Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said during a press conference Monday morning. "I would not take any chances with this one.:
An evacuation order went into effect Monday afternoon for areas east of Interstate 95 in all six of Georgia's coastal counties. Eastbound lanes of Interstate 16 will be reversed to westbound starting Tuesday morning.
(MORE: The Latest Forecast for Hurricane Dorian)
Kemp said especially residents on barrier islands should follow the evacuation orders because flooding and storm surge could block roadways.
"You may be on your own if first responders are unable to get to you," he said.
The Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick was scheduled to close at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, WTOC.com reported. The network also reported a host of school, college, government office and business closures for Tuesday and Wednesday, including Savannah-Chatham County schools, Georgia Southern University, the College of Coastal Georgia and Savannah State University.
The Savannah College of Art and Design announced that the start of the fall quarter would be delayed until at least Sept. 11.
An evacuation order was also set to go in effect at noon in in parts of South Carolina, covering more than 800,000 residents along the entire coast. The South Carolina Highway Patrol began converting eastbound lanes on a part of Interstate 26 to flow westbound and ease evacuation traffic.
Similar closures were also announced in South Carolina, including Beaufort County Schools, Charleston County Schools, Charleston Southern University and The Citadel.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency Monday afternoon in advance of the storm in a statement stressing that those living in coastal areas should remain alert.
Residents in low-lying coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina, especially, were keeping a wary eye on the extremely dangerous hurricane as its path still remained in question.
Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina's Outer Banks told tourists to leave Sunday in a Facebook post. "All visitors and vehicles," according to the post, "must be off the islands by Tuesday." Nearby Dare County ordered a mandatory evacuation Monday beginning with tourists, with residents ordered to evacuate by 6 a.m. Wednesday. Similarly, "renters and day visitors" on Bald Head Island were ordered to evacuate.
Tybee Island resident Jason Madden shoved sand into bags at a free sandbag distribution point Sunday afternoon. Madden told the Savannah Morning News "this one has me nervous."
Madden has experienced hurricanes before, but fears the recent numbers of massive storms in the Atlantic.
“Mother Nature’s changing,” he said. “It’s coming.”
Those living in low-lying coastal areas in Georgia and South Carolina, especially, were worried about high tides. The water is already higher than normal due to king tides, which happen with a new moon.
"I've already started moving stuff up from downstairs to the middle floor, and that way, we're 15 feet above where the water might come, because the last one with Irma, we had three feet of water in our house downstairs," one resident of St. Simon's Island told WXIA.
(MORE: Widespread Damage Reported in Northwestern Bahamas)
Ports in Savannah and Brunswick were put in a higher stage of alert ahead of the storm. The alert, which went into effect Saturday, indicates that winds between 39 and 54 miles an hour are possible within 48 hours.
The U.S. Coast Guard in Charleston said it was monitoring the storm closely.
In Hampton, Georgia, Atlanta Motor Speedway announced that its camping facilities have been opened to take in hurricane evacuees, if needed.
The prospect of another damaging hurricane was especially difficult for residents in South Georgia who endured the devastation of Hurricane Michael a year ago and Hurricane Irma in 2017. Farmers suffered $2.5 billion in crop losses from Hurricane Michael, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and many are still trying to recover.
"A lot of folks are still recovering from Irma two years ago and Michael last year," Jeremy Kichler, a University of Georgia extension agent in Colquitt County who works with local farmers, told the AJC. "I don’t know if we can stand another one."
