State of emergency for 12 counties of South Georgia before Dorian

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Georgian authorities continue to follow Hurricane Dorian, which is expected to turn into a Category 4 storm before hitting the southeast coast of Florida, channel 2 Action News meteorologists said Thursday afternoon.

Before the arrival of the storm, Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for 12 counties of South Georgia Thursday afternoon shortly before 4:15 pm.

MORE: South Georgia's mistrust of Dorian: "I do not know if we can support another"

The counties on alert are Brantley, Bryan, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Pierce and Wayne.

If the storm moved to the northwest, it could have a larger impact than expected on the Georgian coastline.

Accompanied by officials from various state agencies, Kemp said Georgia could see winds above 39 mph extend more than 100 miles from the storm. Southwestern Georgia can also expect rainfall of 2 to 4 inches by the beginning of next week, he said.

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Kemp urged the people of Georgia to be ready to react quickly. Local agencies are already preparing for potential evacuations from Florida, which would impact traffic in Georgia during the holiday weekend. The Ministry of Transportation was conducting road sweeps to make sure they would be cleared before the storm, Kemp said.

In preparation for evacuees seeking protection from the storm, Atlanta Motor Speedway is opening its camping facilities, which can accommodate thousands of people, said the latter in a press release.

The Georgia Red Cross is also in the process of preparing and is working with government officials to be ready to support the communities of Florida and Georgia, if necessary.

Homer Bryson, Georgia's director of emergency management and homeland security, said his agency was preparing to send resources to where it was needed if the storm was heading south-west Georgia.

Even if the storm stays on its current trajectory, it will bring unpleasant weather conditions in some parts of the state.

"At the very least, we will see potentially heavy rains in some parts of our state, which could lead to flooding," said Kemp, advising residents of the preoccupied areas to start thinking about preparations now. floods.

READ MORE: Georgian Officials Monitor Dorian's Impact on Labor Day Weekend

Thursday afternoon, the center of Dorian was just over 200 km north-northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with sustained maximum winds of 85 mph.

Channel 2 meteorologists said the storm was still heading toward the Florida coast, but that it was moving slower, heading northwest at a speed of about 13 mph. It is expected to become a Category 3 storm by Saturday morning and move to Category 4 as it moves north of the Bahamas before touching the Florida coast on Monday morning.

Although the trajectory of the storm has changed very little, the expected intensity has increased with the possibility of maximum sustained winds between 130 and 156 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

While moving to Florida, the hurricane is expected to deteriorate Tuesday to fall into category 1, meteorologists said.

But if the storm moved to the northwest, it could have a bigger impact on the Georgian coastline and hit the same areas of the state devastated by Hurricane Michael last year. Channel 2 meteorologist Brian Monahan said Thursday afternoon that a turn to the north is likely at some point.