Live updates: Idalia hammers Georgia with high winds, leaving thousands without power

Here’s the latest on Hurricane Idalia as it moves through Georgia.

Tropical Storm Idalia heads into South Carolina

The system that made landfall in Florida as a major hurricane traveled further up the Georgia coast and neared South Carolina Wednesday night, the National Weather Service said in an 8 p.m. weather update. The storm was about 60 miles west of Charleston and still brought 65 mph winds.

Bibb County’s tropical storm warnings and other severe weather watches expired Wednesday night, though the NWS projected rain from the storm to remain in Middle Georgia through Thursday morning. Some tropical storm warnings were still in place in counties further north, including Toombs and Jefferson counties.

The NWS also noted a threat of some tornadoes for parts of the Carolinas, but predicted “little to no impacts” by tornadoes in central and north Georgia.

Idalia downgraded to tropical storm

The storm system that wracked Florida and south Georgia with rain and wind was downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm Wednesday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm kept moving east at a speed around 20 mph after passing over Valdosta and then Statesboro Wednesday afternoon. It’s expected to continue over the Georgia coast and into South Carolina late Wednesday night.

Winds were measured at 70 mph around 5 p.m. as the storm was still west of Savannah. Rain should be expected from east-central Georgia to South Carolina for much of the night, NWS said.

-Micah Johnston, mjohnston@macon.com

‘Nobody’s panicking’

A few years ago, Clint Bowman’s wife bought him a weather station off Amazon as a Father’s Day gift. They installed it on a pole in their backyard, where it measures the wind and rain.

Bowman, a retired teacher, lives in Waycross, Georgia. This morning, his weather station measured gusts of wind as high as 23 miles per hour.

“When that thing hit 23 this morning, the pine trees were bending over at 15, 20 degrees,” Bowman said. “It was a hard, hard gust.”

Since his weather station was partially sheltered by a neighboring house, the actual wind speeds were likely higher.

Then the trees outside began to crash down. Some were audible from within his house.

“These are very tall, very old pine trees,” Bowman said.

More recently, the rain let up as the storm passed directly over Waycross.

“The eye is passing through right now, so it’s pretty calm,” Bowman said.

Some residents who’ve been hunkered indoors all day can’t resist surveying the damage to their town while they can.

“A lot of people are driving around looking. They probably shouldn’t be, but they are,” said Bowman.

Much of the town doesn’t have power.

But Bowman says Waycross residents are remaining calm. “Nobody’s panicking.”

— Gautama Mehta, gmehta@macon.com

‘Something I never want to see again’

In Idalia’s wake, Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk told The Telegraph by phone early Wednesday afternoon that the storm was “something I never want to see again.”

Paulk said that in the storm’s aftermath, amid felled trees and snapped power lines, locals were inquiring about which roads were closed.

“It’s easier,” he said, “to tell you which ones are open.”

Interstate 75, which runs through Valdosta, the county seat there, was closed for about six hours.

“At times, it was blowing and raining so hard you couldn’t see 15 feet in front of you,” Paulk said. “The utility people, they had to pull their (crews) back in it got so rough.”

Scores of county roads were blocked by fallen trees. Telephone poles in spots were keeled over at 45-degree angles.

“You’d run up on a tree that had the road blocked,” Paulk said. “You’d turn around and there’d be another one down behind you.”

— Joe Kovac Jr., jkovac@macon.com

Brunt of storm ‘pretty rough’ in deep south Georgia

Matt Pittman, who runs Pittman’s Taxidermy in Homerville, a town of about 2,400 people between Valdosta and Waycross, said the brunt of Idalia in Georgia had been “pretty rough.”

As the storm’s eye moved through at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, Pittman said by phone that power was out at his place south of town, as it was for thousands across that region on the northwestern fringes of the Okefenokee Swamp.

“A tree just fell on the neighbor’s house a few minutes ago, but they’re OK,” Pittman said.

He figured some of the gusts that ripped through topped 80 mph.

“I just was talking to a neighbor that lives probably 5 or 6 miles down the road and he’s got trees down all in his yard,” Pittman said. “He had a small metal building that looked like beer can if you crumpled it up in your hand.”

— Joe Kovac Jr., jkovac@macon.com

Idalia, meet Vidalia

As Hurricane Idalia slogged across southeast Georgia on Wednesday, it wrung out a mop of atmospheric moisture that stretched from the edge of Alabama to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

One locale on the weather map between Macon and Savannah stood out in Idalia’s radar-green-and-yellow swirl: Vidalia.

The Toomb’s County town’s name read like a near namesake for the storm.

On the ground there, downpours spit sideways as steady 30-mph winds blew through the land of the famed sweet onions at midafternoon and, at times, toppling trees and power lines.

“It’s just dreary-looking outside,” Vidalia Fire Chief Brian Sikes said by phone.

Asked by a Telegraph reporter if anyone there had recognized the storm’s Vidalia-like name, the chief said there was, in fact, mention of the similarity.

“Someone said to me that they’re gonna survive Idalia in Vidalia,” Sikes said. “It was ironic. We were sitting here trying to figure out, ‘How do they come up with these names?’ I think they chose ‘Vidalia’ and just took the ‘V’ off of it.”

— Joe Kovac Jr., jkovac@macon.com

All North Central Health District locations closed

The Georgia Department of Public Health announced Wednesday morning that all North Central Health District locations will be closed Wednesday due to Hurricane Idalia. This includes county health departments, WIC offices, the HOPE Center and the district office, according to a news release.

“For the safety of health department clients and staff NCHD has suspended operations on Wednesday. Regular hours are expected to resume Thursday, August 31,” read the release.

The North Central Health District includes county health departments in Baldwin, Crawford, Hancock, Houston, Jasper, Jones, Macon-Bibb, Monroe, Peach, Putnam, Twiggs, Washington and Wilkinson counties.

- Jenna Eason, jeason@macon.com

Idalia begins eastern turn

As Idalia’s eye churned south and east of Valdosta at about 20 mph, it has begun edging easterly, angling toward Waycross and Georgia’s vast and forested Atlantic coastal region below Interstate 16 west of Interstate 95.

The National Hurricane Center reported maximum sustained winds of 90 mph.

A 52-mph wind gust was reported at south Georgia’s Moody Air Force Base.A storm surge warning was in effect from just north of Sapelo Island, Georgia, and into South Carolina. A hurricane warning was also in place for much of Georgia’s coastline.

— Joe Kovac Jr., jkovac@macon.com

West Georgia should only see wind, little rain

While Idalia appears to be heading straight up I-75, meteorologists expect it to turn east/northeast, sparing much of western Georgia.

“Since yesterday there has been some westward shifts in the overall track of Idalia,” Katie Martin, a meteorologist with the NWS said. “The forecast remains generally the same for Columbus. We don’t have any type of warning. There are tropical storm warnings are to the east. Columbus will seue wind gusts of 25mph maybe occasional gusts around 30 mph. There may be some rainfall of 10th to a quarter of an inch through tomorrow morning at 8am. Columbus may see thunderstorms throughout the day.

“Macon is more on the true outskirts of Idalia, so rainfall totals are 1.5” over the next 24 hours. Gustier than Columbus with winds in 40 mph. Valdosta rainfall expectations are 2-3” and is under a tropical storm warning. More wind and persistent heavy rain. Valdosta sustained 30-35mph and gusts to 55mph.”

— Kala Hunter, khunter@ledger-enquirer.com

Churches cancel Wednesday night services

Middle Georgia churches have announced the cancellation of Wednesday night services due to Hurricane Idalia.

Several local schools and colleges have canceled classes or moved them remote.

Here is a list of churches who have announced cancellations:

• Central Baptist Church: “Central family, out of an abundance of caution with the expected potential of power outages and dangerous conditions, we will be cancelling our Midweek Meal and ALL Midweek (Wednesday night) activities. In addition, we will be closing the church office at 1 PM today. Stay safe and please join us in praying for all of those in Idalia’s path.”

• Church in the Orchard: “Due to the condition of our campus grounds with the ongoing construction, we are having to cancel midweek service tonight. With the amount of rain that has already fallen and scheduled to fall, our parking would be very limited. We will move our Speed The Light Taco dinner to next Wednesday, we pray everyone has a safe evening. We’re look forward to Sunday Morning.”

• First Baptist Church of Christ: “All church activities are canceled for tonight due to the tropical storm warning in effect. Please be safe and take care of yourselves and others!”

• Second Baptist Church: “Out of an abundance of caution with the expected high winds and the potential of power outages during food preparation hours, we will be canceling Wednesday Night Supper and ALL Wednesday Night Activities.”

— Jenna Eason, jeason@macon.com

Middle Georgia under tropical storm warning, flood watch

Hurricane warnings were issued for vast areas south and near a line stretching from Valdosta to Savannah, while rare tropical storm warnings reached far inland along an arc roughly from Albany to Macon and Warner Robins on over toward Milledgeville and Augusta.

In a predawn alert, the National Weather Service said tropical storm-force winds, up to 57 mph, were possible in parts of the midstate. Downed trees and electrical outages are likely as trees and limbs clip power lines. Flooding and tornadoes are also possible.

Wind gusts to 40 mph and 1-to-3 inches of rainfall were more likely in Middle Georgia locations.

— Joe Kovac Jr., jkovac@macon.com

Atlanta airport dealing with cancellations, delays

At Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, more than 90 flights are canceled for Wednesday, many of them to and from affected airports in Florida. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines has canceled more than 125 flights across its system for Wednesday.

Airlines are offering waivers to allow travelers with bookings to, from or through areas that may be affected by the storm, who want to change their travel plans without paying certain extra charges.

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines’ waiver of a difference in fare for flight changes applies to Brunswick, Columbus, Savannah and Valdosta, Georgia; Charleston, Hilton Head Island and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Daytona Beach, Fort Myers, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Key West, Orlando, Panama City, Sarasota, Tallahassee and Tampa, Florida for passengers with flights booked Aug. 28-31, with certain limitations.

— Kelly Yamanouchi, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Threat slight for hurricane-spun tornadoes

Tornadoes, which are sometimes spun up by the outer bands of hurricanes and tropical storms, were deemed an isolated threat for Georgia as of midday Wednesday. The National Weather Service noted in a statement that “fortunately, Idalia is a fast-moving storm and will be shunted eastward as a surface cold front pushes southward into north Georgia, and impacts will begin to quickly diminish.”

— Joe Kovac Jr., jkovac@macon.com

Hurricane Idalia makes landfall in Florida

At 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, Idalia, as a Category 3 hurricane, made landfall along the coast of the Florida Big Bend near Keaton Beach. Maximum sustained winds were estimated to be 125 mph.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts it will be at hurricane strength as it hits southeast Georgia late this afternoon, then gradually weaken to a tropical storm as it goes along the South Carolina coast.

— Mary Dimitrov, mdimitrov@islandpacket.com