South Georgia Braces For Flooding

The storms that once again brought multiple inches of rain to parts of the state have now given way to concerns over waters rising this morning. An update from Ken Davis of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency:

"What we're seeing is a continued rise in the river and creek levels, particularly across southwest, south-central, southeast, and even central Georgia."

As example this morning, flooding includes the Satilla River in Waycross, affecting residents in Pierce and Ware counties. Moderate flooding is happening now, with major flood stage for that river forecast by this afternoon. Many secondary roads are closed across south Georgia and central portions of the state. For a time last night, a section of Interstate-75 in the Cordele area had to be closed to traffic with water covering the roadway.

GEMA's Davis says there are also 20 school systems, mainly in south Georgia, closed today.

Davis says there were no reports of any tornadoes in Georgia.

More Rain Heightens Flooding Concerns

A new round of rain is forecast for much of Georgia from Wednesday through at least Thursday. But while the state still needs precipitation in the big picture of the drought, the rain is not welcome news for saturated south Georgia. The region is still trying to recover from flooding over last weekend. Earlier this week, Governor Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency in six south Georgia counties.

Because of concerns over flooded roadways, some school systems in south Georgia are closed today: Baker County; Berrien County; Brooks County; Colquitt County; Cook County; Miller County; Mitchell County; Pelham City Schools; Baconton Charter School; and no dual-enrollment classes for Colquitt County High School.

Thousands Still Without Power

Restoring electricity to thousands of Georgia residents is still the challenge this morning in the wake of the weekend’s winter storms that moved through.

Georgia EMC says there are still 13,000 of its customers without power. The outages are mainly concentrated in the northeast Georgia counties of Madison and Jackson. Georgia EMC crews are working to repair two sub-stations, along with a couple dozen poles damaged from the storm.

Georgia Power tells GPB this morning it is down to 1,500 customers still in the dark--all in the northeast portion of the state. It expects all power to be restored by this afternoon.

There are also a handful of county school system closings for today:

Clarke, Hart, Jackson, Madison, and Oconee counties. Elbert County schools will delay opening by a couple of hours.

State Recovers From Winter Weather

A Sunday full of snow, and an overnight of gusty winds across parts of Georgia have mixed to present Monday morning problems for parts of the state.

Officials with Georgia Power this morning tell GPB they still have about 28,000 customers without electricity as of 8am. The bulk of those outages are in the Athens-area, with strong winds causing numerous downed tree limbs onto power lines.

From the group of electric membership cooperatives in Georgia, serving four-million residents--they report about 29,000 customers without power. Along with outages in metro Atlanta, outages also are reported in middle and west Georgia. Georgia EMC says its biggest challenge involves extensive damage to a transmission line and two substations in Jackson and Madison Counties, which has impacted about 16,000 customers. Last evening, this area received nearly seven inches of snow, prompting repairs that could extend into early to late Monday evening.

The state Department of Transportation says they’ve been working through the night to handle trouble spots in Georgia when reports of icy patches on roads come in. Brian Gunter is with the DOT says about 100 trucks right now are on duty:

"Over the last 24 hours all over Georgia we've had over a 1,000 employees and 200 pieces of equipment just rolling around checking out the icy spots and laying down sand and salt."

There are dozens of county school system closings across Georgia, along with numerous private school and city school closures. The list of county school system closings as of 8:10 am:

Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Clarke, Clayton, Coweta, DeKalb, Dodge, Elbert, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hancock, Hart, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Madison, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Pike, Putnam, Rockdale, Spalding, Taylor, Telfair, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walton, Wheeler, Wilkes.

Winter Weather Closings

--Updated 8:10am--
County school systems closed in Georgia Monday:
Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Clarke, Clayton, Coweta, DeKalb, Dodge, Elbert, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hancock, Hart, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Madison, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Pike, Putnam, Rockdale, Spalding, Taylor, Telfair, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walton, Wheeler, Wilkes.

In addition, numerous city school systems and private schools are closed today.

The University of Georgia is closed to classes today.

Weather Forces School Closings in North Georgia

The combination of light snow, some icy roads, and cold temperatures has prompted some north Georgia county school officials to cancel classes for students today.

There will be no school Tuesday for students in Fannin, Gilmer, Towns, Union, and Whitfield county schools. There is also no class today for students of Dalton Public Schools.

High temperatures across the state expected only in the low 30s north, to upper 40s in southern Georgia.

UPDATE-'Fay' affect on southern Georgia

Tropical storm warning is in effect through Friday night for Georgia's coast.

Flash flood and flood watches in effect for southeast, south-central and southwest Georgia through Friday night.

Wind advisories are in effect for much of central and southeast Georgia through Saturday night.

Rainfall amounts across south Georgia could reach 10 inches in some areas. Wind gusts this morning have been reported to be hitting the 30 mph range.

School closings for Friday:

- Camden County schools
- Glynn County schools
- McIntosh County schools
- Valdosta city schools
- Benedictine Military School

UPDATED-School closings due to 'Fay'

These schools and school systems are closed today, Friday Aug. 22nd, due to the effects of Tropical storm Fay:

- Camden County schools
- Glynn County schools
- McIntosh County schools
- Valdosta city schools
- Benedictine Military School

Icy conditions close schools, slow drivers

Freezing temperatures and thick fog are creating a mess for motorists in northeast Georgia. The conditions caught motorists by surprise this morning. A thick fog settled over the mountains overnight, and temperatures dipped just below freezing, causing wet roads to ice over.

At about 5 a.m. troopers shut down all the main roads motorists use to get in and out of the mountains, including Highway 365 in Habersham County, U.S. 441 in Rabun County, and Highway 17 in Stephens County. Georgia DOT crews have been out since about 7a.m. salting and sanding those roads, and by 7:30 a.m., the Georgia State Patrol had re-opened them.

However, the State Patrol continues to work numerous accidents because of the black ice across northeast Georgia, and they are asking people to stay off the roads until temperatures rise and the fog lifts.

Habersham and Rabun County schools are closed. Stephens and Lumpkin County schools are on a two-hour delay because school buses cannot get on the road because of icy conditions.

Snow, ice blanket north Georgia

Demorest: Walking Through Woods on a Snowy Morning (M.J. Kneiser)

With temperatures hovering around freezing, snow, sleet and ice fell across much of north Georgia overnight. The northeast Georgia mountains received the most snowfall, with some spots getting up to 3 inches.

The National Weather Service reports that snowfalls across the region ranged from near three inches in Lumpkin and White counties to around an inch in Gilmer, Banks and Forsyth counties. Snow also fell in Atlanta and as far south as Peachtree City.
DOT spokesman Mark McKinnon said that trucks were still spreading sand and salt on major roadways in northeast Georgia this morning and monitoring conditions across the state.

McKinnon says driving to work should not be a problem for most Georgians: “As long as they’re careful, [drivers] will be fine. Roads are wet with a possible icy patch here or there.”

Still, many school systems across north Georgia have cancelled classes today because of the potentially dangerous conditions.

Officials expect conditions to improve as temperatures climb into the upper 30s and lower 40s during the day today.

Georgia School Closings

The following public schools are closed due to inclement weather in North Georgia:

Banks County Schools
Carroll County Schools, 12-month staff report
Cherokee County Schools
Dawson County Schools
Fannin County Schools
Forsyth County Schools
Franklin County Schools
Gilmer County Schools
Habersham County Schools, 12-month staff report
Hall County Schools
Haralson County Schools
Hart County Schools
Lumpkin County Schools
Pickens County Schools
Rabun County Schools
Stephens County Schools, 12-month staff report
Towns County Schools
Union County Schools
White County Schools