As Ian churns toward the East Coast, residents across coastal Georgia are preparing for impacts from the storm.
Ian, which was downgraded Thursday to a tropical storm, battered southwest Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 mph at landfall Wednesday.
95.5 WSB’s Christina Edwards says Ian is now forecast to move northeast and cross back into the Atlantic Ocean before curving north. “Ian will then make landfall Friday afternoon, as a tropical storm, along the Georgia and South Carolina coast line, between Savannah and Charleston,” Edwards explains.
>> Read the latest content from WSB’s Christina Edwards here.
Edwards adds that Ian’s forecast path remains well to the east of Metro Atlanta. “However, some impacts will still be experienced in North Georgia,” Edwards warns.
Wind gusts as high as 30-35 mph are possible Thursday through Saturday evening. This is strong enough to knock down trees and powerlines, particularly in East Georgia as well as the North Georgia Mountains.
On Wednesday, I reported live from a Walmart in Savannah for 95.5 WSB where residents were fervently buying supplies.
The bread aisle was almost empty, the soup and ramen shelves were depleted, I couldn’t find any bottled water and an employee told me there were only a handful of battery-powered flashlights left in the store.
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The line to check out was daunting but a few of the residents I spoke with said they were heeding the advice of experts who have said it never hurts to be overprepared.
Rainfall totals have stepped downwards, Edwards says, and there will be areas in metro Atlanta that will not receive any rain at all as the core of Ian’s precipitation stays well east of the region.
Edwards adds that Ian’s rainbands will swirl through metro Atlanta Friday afternoon through the evening hours. Some rain is likely through early Saturday morning, but the rainbands will swirl out of the metro region by Saturday afternoon.
>> Ian a tropical storm, additional landfall west of Charleston expected Friday
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