At least 1 dead in Georgia as Hurricane Irma crosses Southeast

Hundreds of local residents being evacuated from the city fill the Savannah Civic Center during a mandatory evacuation from Hurricane Irma on Saturday Sept 9 2017 in Savannah Ga Irma regained Category 5 status late Friday Thousands of people in the Caribbean fought desperately to find shelter or escape their stormblasted islands and more than 6 million people in Florida and Georgia were warned to leave their homes PicAPPTIIrma killed one person in Georgia as storm surge and rain flooded coastal communities today winds sent trees crashing onto homes and the worlds busiest airport in Atlanta canceled hundreds of flights as the storms punch was felt statewide despite its weakened status as a tropical stormThe city of Savannah on Georgias coast was evacuated for the second time in less than a year because of the storm and the National Weather Service in Peachtree City confirmed that Atlanta more than 400 kilometers inland from either the Atlantic or Gulf coasts was under a tropical storm warning for the first timeOne stormrelated death had been confirmed in rural Worth County Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Catherine Howden said afternoon She had no further detailsThe storm fatality occurred in southwest Georgia where Irmas center crossed over from Florida this afternoonTropical storm winds reached more than 644 kilometers from its center giving its powerful gusts and drenching rains a far reachStorm surge and rainfall arriving at high tide this afternoon swamped communities along Georgias 160kilometer coast On Tybee Island east of Savannah Holland Zellers was heading home to grab a kayak so he could reach a home where his mother had taken shelter near the beachShawn Gillen Tybee Islands city manager said waters appeared to be receding quickly but the flooding was extensive on the island of more than 3000 residentsTheres a lot of homes that have water in the them right now Gillen saidThe tidal surge also sent water and damaged boats rushing ashore for more than three blocks into downtown St Marys just north of the GeorgiaFlorida state line said St Marys police Lt Shannon Brock Brock said no injuries had been reportedAlmost all of Georgia was under a tropical storm warningA similar warning covered parts of South Carolina and most of eastern Alabama where schools and businesses were closed today Alabama Emergency Management Agencymeteorologist Jim Stefcovich said strong winds could linger in the state until 2 am tomorrowAbout 800 flights had been canceled at HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport which remained operational today as its staff monitored storm conditions with help from the Federal Aviation Administration airport spokesman Andrew Gobeil saidBy this afternoon more than 800000 Georgia Power and EMC customers mostly in coastal and south Georgia were without power Alabama Power said there were 12000 outages mostly in the southeastern area of the stateIn Atlanta falling trees and limbs may pose the most significant threat to life and propertyAmy Phuong parks and recreation commissioner for the city says six crews already were handling calls for felled trees around the city this afternoon as winds and rain began to intensifyPhuong says the crews expect to stay busy as Irma passes over the area and in the storms aftermathAbout half the citys land area is covered by trees a larger share than most urban centers Georgias coast was largely empty after evacuations were ordered for the second time in less than year The coasts nearly 540000 residents fled last October ahead of Hurricane Matthew which caused an estimated USD 500 million in damageand killed three peopleThe National Weather Service said flooding rains were a major concern today with 20 to 38 centimeters of rainfall predicted in southeast Georgia Downtown Savannah saw winds today strong enough to make palm trees bend and swayFurther inland in Lowndes County near the GeorgiaFlorida line firefighters rescued occupants of a few homes struck by falling trees said county spokeswoman Paige DukesNo serious injuries were reported With wind gusts reaching 112 kph officials ordered a daytime curfew for the 112000 residents of Lowndes County which includes ValdostaMetropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority suspended all bus and rail services today and would decide later whether to resume operations today spokesman Erik Burton saidGeorgia Power spokeswoman Holly Crawford said today the areas with the most power outages were coastal Glynn and Chatham counties She says the utility company had about 3400 employees on standby to respond but cautioned repairs could take several days