Crews from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) have spent the past day clearing roads in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, which tore across the region for hours on Wednesday.
Two major bridges in Coastal Georgia that were closed to traffic on Wednesday, the Talmadge Bridge in Savannah and the Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick, reopened Thursday morning.
Nine state highways remained closed on Thursday, as crews from the Georgia Department of Transportation worked to clear storm debris.
“We are fortunate the storm was narrow and fast-moving,” Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters Thursday during a news conference at the Georgia Capitol. “But if you were in the path, it was devastating.”
One fatality was reported during the storm when a tree fell on a vehicle in Lowndes County, one of the areas hardest hit by Idalia, while minor injuries were reported across the region.
At the height of the storm Wednesday afternoon, 277,000 electric customers had lost power, said James Stallings, director of the state Emergency Management/Homeland Security Agency. By Thursday morning, that number had been reduced to 107,000, he said.
While the Biden administration has approved federal disaster declarations for Florida and South Carolina, Stallings said his agency is continuing to assess the damage in Georgia.
“We had the storm in our state a lot longer than Florida or South Carolina,” he said. “We’ve got a long track of damage to look into.”
Drivers can keep up with closures on GDOT’s 511 website.
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Source: Georgia Capitol Beat
