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What does Hurricane Michael 'State of Emergency' mean for Georgia?

ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has declared a state of emergency for 108 counties as Hurricane Michael barrels toward the Gulf Coast.

The original executive order issued Tuesday included 92 counties but Gov. Deal expanded it to an additional 16 counties Wednesday.

Gov. Deal said Wednesday that Hurricane Michael won't a “simple walk away from it with no serious damage” type of storm.

The storm officially made landfall near Mexico Beach around 1:38 p.m. ET with 155 mph winds, just 2 mph shy of a Category 5 hurricane, according to Severe Weather Team 2 meteorologists.

We have LIVE coverage from 16 reporters and photographers fanned out across Florida and Georgia covering this dangerous storm throughout the day on Channel 2 Action News.

Channel 2's political reporter Richard Elliot spoke exclusively with Gov. Deal when the State of Emergency was first declared Tuesday.

"We think we are ready. We think we are prepared. But Mother Nature can sometimes do strange things to us," Deal told Channel 2 Action News Tuesday.

[LIVE UPDATES: Tropical Storm warnings issued in Georgia for Hurricane Michael]

Here are all the details that are included in Gov. Deal's State of Emergency.

How long does the State of Emergency last?

The State of Emergency went into effect at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday Oct. 9 and it will end at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday Oct. 16.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Severe Weather Team 2 App]

Which counties are affected by the State of Emergency?

The State of Emergency covers counties south of a line from Columbus to Macon to Savannah. Here is the full list of counties Gov. Deal declared:

  • Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Butts, Calhoun, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Chattahoochee, Clarke, Clay, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Crawford, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Dooly, Dougherty, Early, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Glynn, Grady, Greene, Hancock, Houston, Irwin, Jasper, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Lanier, Laurens, Lee, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, Macon, Marion, McDuffie, McIntosh, Miller, Mitchell, Morgan, Monroe, Montgomery, Muscogee, Peach, Pierce, Pulaski, Quitman, Oconee, Oglethrope, Putnam, Randolph, Richmond, Schley, Screven, Seminole, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Taylor, Telfair, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Twiggs, Upson, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wheeler, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson and Worth counties.

MORE HURRICANE MICHAEL: 

What resources are available during a State of Emergency?

Under Gov. Deal's executive order, all resources of the State of Georgia are made available to assist with hurricane response.

The Georgia Department of Defense will deploy up to 1,500 Georgia National Guardsmen to response to Hurricane Michael.

This includes an uninterrupted supply of petroleum, supplies, goods and services along with any food and agricultural products.

Certain trucking restrictions are lifted to help south Georgia farmers move their produce before the storm hits.

The executive order also prohibits any price gouging related to goods that are necessary to prepare for Hurricane Michael.

[RELATED: How does a hurricane form?]

The Red Cross is also mobilized to help with Hurricane Michael efforts.

Ashley Henyon told us it's been a challenging season with two large scale hurricane responses in less than a month. Despite the challenges, Henyon told Channel 2's Tom Regan they wouldn't be able to pull it off without volunteers like Donna Anderson.

Anderson has been a volunteer for fifty years and has responded to more than two hurricanes and other disasters.

She told Regan her job to make everyone feel welcome and supported with what they need.

"We supply them with food, clothing, we also have different kids of cots, special needs cots. We can pull up to a building and have a shelter set up in an hour or two for a hundred people," she said.

Along with the disaster relief trailers, feeding trucks will be sent to the hurricane zone.

"We feed about six to eight hundred people," Anderson said.

Cox Media Group

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