Full Notification

The center of Hurricane Irma made landfall at Cudjoe Key (20 miles east-northeast of Key West) at 9:10 AM EDT with maximum sustained winds of 130 MPH (Category 4). A gust to 106 mph was reported at the National Key Deer Refuge in Big Pine Key.
 
Hurricane Irma has made its turn towards the north and is still expected to bring significant impacts to Georgia. The forward motion of the storm is currently only 9 MPH, but that is expected to rapidly increase as it moves towards the north throughout the day. The center of the storm is expected to enter Southwest Georgia as either a Category 1 hurricane or a strong tropical storm early Monday afternoon, but impacts will be felt well before that time with tropical storm force winds extending 220 miles from the center of circulation. Tropical storm force winds may arrive as early as late Sunday evening in South Georgia and as early as Monday morning for the Atlanta area.
 
Most of Georgia that is not under a Hurricane Warning is under a Tropical Storm Warning, as tropical storm conditions are expected across most of the state, including the coast. All of Georgia is under a Flash Flood Watch. Governor Nathan Deal expanded the emergency declaration to include an additional 65 counties today. The state of emergency now includes all 159 counties in Georgia. 
 
Impacts expected from Irma based on the current forecast include:
·         Damaging winds: Sustained winds of 40 to 60 MPH with gusts of 50 to 80 MPH are likely across much of Georgia from Monday
 morning to Tuesday morning. Portions of Southwest Georgia could see higher values. This will lead to widespread trees and powerlines down with prolonged power outages expected. In addition, structural damage is possible, particularly from falling trees. Thousands of trees and power lines will be downed, with many likely to fall over roadways, power lines, structures, and vehicles. Travel disruptions and delays due to downed trees may be substantial. Winds of this magnitude will cause impacts comparable to those of Hurricane Opal in 1995 when wind gusts of 50 to 75 MPH occurred in the Atlanta Metro area.
·         Heavy rainfall and flash flooding: Rainfall amounts in Southeast Georgia of 8 to 12 inches are expected, with 3 to 8 inches forecast for the rest of Georgia. Some areas could see isolated higher amounts. This will create the potential for flash flooding, and a few rivers may reach minor to moderate flood stage.
·         Storm surge: Coastal areas could see 4 to 6 feet of storm surge. These values do not include any wave action that occurs on top of the storm tide, which could be substantial.
·         Tornadoes: Several isolated/scattered tornadoes will still be possible. They would be rain-wrapped and nearly impossible to see.