Most of Georgia is expected to dodge the worst of Hurricane Milton, but the coast is under a tropical storm watch as it barrels toward Florida.
The Category 4 storm is churning just north of the Yucatán Peninsula on Tuesday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. It is expected to strengthen to a Category 5 as it continues eastward and weakens slightly ahead of making landfall at some point late Wednesday or early Thursday. It is forecast to remain a hurricane as it crosses the Florida Peninsula into the Atlantic Ocean.
Georgia cities like Brunswick, Augusta and Valdosta — still grappling with power outages and heavy damage from Helene — could again be whipped by tropical storm-force winds and 2 to 6 inches of rain starting late Wednesday, with higher totals possible, the NHC predicts.
On Florida’s west coast, “extremely dangerous” conditions are expected, the NHC warns. Destructive storm surge with inundations of 10 feet or greater is projected.
“This is an extremely life-threatening situation, and residents in those areas should follow advice given by local officials and evacuate immediately if told to do so,” the NHC said in an advisory. “Preparations to protect life and property in the warning areas should be complete by tonight (Tuesday).”
“There will likely not be enough time to wait to leave on Wednesday,” the agency added.
Forecast path for Milton
Hurricane warnings are in effect along most of Florida’s Gulf Coast, where devastating, life-threatening winds and floods are expected.
In a Sunday post on X, the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency welcomed Floridians to seek refuge in Georgia, but urged evacuees to head further north to Atlanta, Columbus, Macon and Albany as resources are already spread thin in South Georgia after Helene.
Several Georgia hotels and campgrounds are opening their doors to evacuees.
In metro Atlanta, for example, Atlanta Motor Speedway and the National Indoor RV Centers have opened their sites to those needing a place to stay.
A few RVs were already parked at the speedway Tuesday morning. Robert Williams and his wife, Paula, had just arrived after fleeing their home in Clermont, Florida.
Credit: John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com
Credit: John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com
“My wife says, ‘We’re not staying.’ I go, ‘You’re right, we’re not staying,’” Robert Williams told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “So (we) loaded up the motorhome and came, just going north.”
The couple stayed in Macon overnight and drove further north after Paula Williams heard about Atlanta Motor Speedway’s campground on Facebook.
“We tried to get camping spots all the way up to Savannah ... but they were all full,” Robert Williams said.
As of Tuesday morning, little to no impacts are expected in North and Middle Georgia, according to the National Weather Service’s Peachtree City office. Some isolated showers — less then a half-inch of rain — could fall in the southeastern parts of Middle Georgia on Thursday morning along with a 20-30-mph breeze.
Aside from those showers, no rain is expected through the weekend. Temperatures will also feel more like fall across the Atlanta metro area, according to the NWS. Highs will stay in the mid to upper 70s and lows will dip into the upper 50s. But the 80-degree temps will be back by Sunday.
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