Hurricane Matthew: Georgia Officials Urge Evacuees To Stay Put

Georgia emergency officials were urging evacuees from Hurricane Matthew to stay patient and resist the urge to head home Saturday, as teams surveyed just how bad damage from the storm really is.

Matthew was a Category 2 hurricane when it hit Georgia's coast Friday night, swamping the region with flooding, strong rain and heavy winds.

The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency said Friday morning it's working with local officials on what it hopes to be a phased re-entry plan for the more than a half-million Georgians who were in the storm's mandatory evacuation zone.

But that could take days, they said.

For the time being, non-essential emergency personnel are banned from entering the evacuation zone.

A mandatory evacuation remains in effect for areas east of Interstate 95 in Bryan, Chatham, Liberty, McIntosh, Glynn and Camden counties and a voluntary evacuation order remains in effect for parts of those counties west of I-95.

"State, local and federal officials are working extremely hard to help areas impacted by Hurricane Matthew," said GEMHSA director Jim Butterworth. "The mission is to do that as quickly and thoroughly as possible. But our focus is on the public’s safety.

"It will take time, likely days, to restore power, inspect bridges and clear and repair roads. We recognize evacuees are eager to return home and appreciate everyone’s patience and focus on personal safety as we ensure it is safe to do so."

According to Georgia Power, more than 272,000 customers remained without power Saturday morning, almost all of them in the coastal band of counties that Matthew hit as it made its way up the Georgia coast and into South Carolina.

Power outages in Chatham and Glynn counties were almost 100 percent, the power company reported.

Reports from the Georgia coast Saturday were filled with instances of downed trees and flooded streets and highways.

Georgia Department of Transportation crews were working to check, clear and repair roads and bridges — including the Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick and Talmadge Memorial Bridge in Savannah, which were closed before the storm and are now being checked for damage.

The DOT's priority is to clear interstates and state routes first. Then, they plan to support local governments clearing debris.

All this news come as hundreds of thousands of coastal Georgia were making do the best they could under evacuation.

Georgia hotels were reportedly at 100 percent capacity Saturday.

More than 17,000 evacuees were being housed at shelters across the state and state parks were sheltering another 10,500 or so.

Photo by Jason Nielubowicz. Used with permission.