Hurricane Irma: LATEST UPDATE, Need-To-Know Facts

ATLANTA, GA — Atlanta is under an unprecedented tropical storm warning and Georgia's governor has issued a State of Emergency for the entire state as Hurricane Irma sent strong winds and rain across southern Florida Sunday, then turned north toward Tampa, and eventually the Peach State. Irma is expected to hit the Atlanta metro as a tropical storm Monday morning, leaving the entire region bracing for potential widespread power outages.

All of Georgia's 159 counties are now under a state of emergency issued early Sunday afternoon by Gov. Nathan Deal, a directive issued hours after the National Weather Service placed the metro Atlanta area under a tropical storm warning ahead of Hurricane Irma's arrival into the Peach State. Meanwhile, Atlanta has welcomed an influx of visitors, there doesn't seem to be a hotel left in Atlanta, and the University of Georgia is closing as officials heed warnings about the Category 4 storm.

Parts of the Savannah area remain under a mandatory evacuation order. Evacuees can find Red Cross shelters open in Macon, Waycross, Augusta and Alpharetta; gas supplies around the Atlanta area are tight but an app can find stations with gas; and tropical storm-force winds are expected to blow into south Georgia by 8 p.m. Sunday and the metro Atlanta area by 8 a.m. Monday. (Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

SEE ALSO: Hurricane Irma Trek Likely To Batter Georgia With Wind, Rain, Coastal Storm Surge

Here are the latest need-to-know facts. Share this with your neighbors on Facebook and Twitter:

• Hurricane Irma: Get Ready For Widespread Georgia Power Outages: For the first time in its history, Atlanta is under a tropical storm warning as monster storm Hurricane Irma heads north through Florida and then into Georgia. The warning is in place to urge Georgians to prepare for high winds, downed trees and widespread power outages, according to the National Weather Service.
• Twitter Freaks Out At Atlanta's First Tropical Storm Warning: Atlanta residents are shocked their city is under a tropical storm warning—for the first time in recorded history—as Hurricane Irma made landfall as a category 4 storm over the Florida Keys Sunday.
• Georgia State, Emory University Make Decision On Classes: As Hurricane Irma slams Florida and threatens Georgia, officials at Atlanta's largest universities weighed whether to cancel school because of the weather. Georgia State University and Emory University both announced Sunday that classes will be canceled Monday.
• Deal Expands State of Emergency To All Counties: Gov. Deal issues a State of Emergency for all 159 counties in Georgia Sunday.
• Douglas County Schools, Paulding County Schools, Cherokee County Schools, Fulton County Schools, along with Bartow County and Cartersville Schools issued updates on school schedules early next week that include closures Monday or both Monday and Tuesday.

You may also want to read about: Atlanta rolling out the red carpet for evacuees, the list of shelters for people and their pets, the potential for widespread power outages; nearly a dozen Atlanta-area mosques are welcoming evacuees; a Florida family was in a fender bender in Decatur and their cat escaped in the commotion; some schools have closed and those in the Atlanta metro are waiting; store shelves in Decatur were hit hard by shoppers; 100 animals from Florida brought to Atlanta through rescue efforts; how to plan for your pet's care during the storm; the main Florida escape routes cut through Georgia; animal-welfare authorities in Gwinnett County are taking in dozens of displaced animals; and a look back at the worst storms to hit Georgia.

Patch Editor Deb Belt contributed to this article.

Photo by Patch Editor Kristal Dixon