As much of Florida began to assess the damage wrought by Hurricane Irma over the weekend, Georgia braced for the northbound storm to take its toll on Monday.
Irma was downgraded to a tropical storm Monday morning as it made its way toward northern Florida and Georgia, but it “still remains a strong and dangerous storm system,” the National Weather Service warned that afternoon.
Across northern and central Georgia, people reported widespread instances of downed trees and power outages, according to the NWS. Wind gusts as high as 65 mph are possible across the northern part of the state throughout the day and into the night, while the north and central parts of the state can expect as many as 6 inches of rain as the storm moves through the region.
Irma is responsible for at least two deaths in the state on Monday, officials confirmed with the Associated Press. In Worth County, a 62-year-old man died when he used a ladder to climb onto a shed. Another official confirmed a death in Sandy Springs but did not provide further details.
At 5 p.m., more than 1.4 million customers in Georgia were without power, according to utility companies Georgia Power and Georgia EMC.
The NWS issued flash flood warnings for several areas, effective until 7:45 p.m. Monday.
On Monday, Irma began seriously affecting travel at Georgia’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest airport in the world. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights out of the crucial U.S. air hub on Monday, with Delta alone canceling at least 800.
Related
Before You Go
