Mass Georgia Evacuations Under Way as Hurricane Matthew Nears

Thousands of Georgians were fleeing the coast Thursday under mandatory evacuations, as the outer bands of Hurricane Matthew lashed Florida in advance of what forecasters were calling a "potentially disastrous" trip up the Atlantic coast.

Traffic stood bumper-to-bumper on parts of Interstate 16, the main route inland from coastal Georgia to Macon, even after the state shut down eastbound traffic and routed all lanes westward.

Hotel rooms throughout the state were filling up, and emergency shelters were opening to house those with no place else to go.

Georgia's map of shelters was constantly being updated Thursday, and is available here.

Earlier Thursday, Gov. Nathan Deal had expanded a state of emergency declaration to 13 southeast Georgia counties while ordering a mandatory evacuation for all areas east of Interstate 95.

"I urge Georgians in the affected areas to remain calm, be prepared and make informed, responsible decisions as we continue to monitor Hurricane Matthew’s path," Deal said.

By 2 p.m. Thursday, the National Hurricane Center had extended its hurricane warning to include the entirety of the Georgia coast and continue up into the Carolinas.

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Overnight, Matthew had weakened to a Category 3 hurricane. But it picked up steam again and by mid-morning had strengthened once again to an "extremely dangerous" Category 4, with sustained winds near 140 mph.

It was moving northwest at 14 mph and expected to come very close to making landfall along the Florida peninsula by Thursday night.

A likely model Thursday morning was showing the storm hugging the Atlantic Coast, staying just offshore as it worked its way up through Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas before veering back out to sea.

Under that model, Georgia would feel the brunt of the storm late Saturday.

As of Thursday morning, evacuation orders in most of southeast Georgia remained voluntary. But some local officials in low-lying and coastal areas — including Tybee Island and parts of Glynn County — had made them mandatory.

Deal's mandatory evacuation order impacted Bryan, Chatham, Liberty, McIntosh, Glynn and Camden counties.

Around 10 a.m., state traffic officials started closing eastbound ramps to Interstate 16, which runs from Savannah to Macon. They eventually opened a "contraflow" along the highway — opening all of its lanes to westbound traffic — as soon as all of the entrances had been cleared.

At 2 p.m., the eye of the hurricane — which was laying waste to the Bahamas — was nearing the city of Freeport in that country. At a clip of 14 mph, it was expected to come near landfall in Floriday by Friday night.

Image via National Hurricane Center