ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp met with Georgia's Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) on Wednesday to address Hurricane Idalia as the storm passes through south Georgia. State officials held a news conference to inform the public.
Idalia is currently a tropical storm with its core heading for coastal Georgia. It made landfall as a Category 3 Hurricane in Florida's Big Bend early Wednesday.
"This is still a bad storm that's coming through. When you have a lot of rain, you have the potential for trees to come down," Kemp said.
State officials said that resources have been made available to residents who are being impacted by the damaging winds.
"We are prepared. We've got pre-positioned assets all over the state. That includes state patrol, DNR, Forestry Commission, Georgia Guard. We're ready," GEMA Director Chris Stallings said.
Stallings added that they are expecting the storm to leave the Peach State by 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to the Georgia Power Outage Map, thousands are without power in south Georgia. Stallings said that it could take up to 72 hours for crews to be able to respond due to having to clean up and reopen roads.
"We have to assess transformers, get live wires that are down disabled so that we can get crews in there safely. As the governor mentioned, we do need those winds down below 35 before we can get folks up in bucket trucks," the GEMA director added.
Officials also added that they did not see an uptick in traffic coming from Florida.
"They're a very resilient state as well. They were I hate to say they're used to this by now, but... they hold in when they can. We're ready to handle any evacuees," Stallings said.
The Atlanta Motor Speedway opened up to evacuees on Tuesday. A limited amount of camping spaces with water, power and sewer will also be available for evacuees at $35 per night. The Speedway has been used to accommodate storm evacuees several times.
Kemp also stated that the state would receive federal response after the storm passed through. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) activated its Region 4 Regional Response Coordination Center early Wednesday afternoon. The center will be operating out of Atlanta for the storm.
President Joe Biden also spoke with Kemp and other state government officials, over the phone, in the neighboring states that are being impacted by Idalia. He told each governor that they have the administration's full support, according to White House officials.
State officials are still worried about storm damage with flooding and trees coming down.
"It's still a very dangerous situation that people need to prepare for as the storm moves through the state," Kemp said.
GEMA said that they have activated emergency support experts to asses the logistics and establish communication between agencies.
Shelters, medical care assistance and more are available for residents who have been impacted by the storm.
To learn more about the resources the Peach State is providing residents, who are impacted by Idalia, click here.