Governor Brian Kemp has declared a State of Emergency ahead of historic cold weather moving into the state Christmas weekend.
The governor said during a press conference that the emergency declaration would “help us ensure that essential supplies, especially propane, can be delivered for residential and commercial needs.”
Kemp said his office is still drafting the declaration, but that it would take effect sometime today and last through midnight on Monday.
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Temperatures are forecast to plummet statewide Friday and by noon on December 23, wind chills are expected to be around zero. While forecasters aren’t predicting much precipitation, North Georgia will get some rain and snowfall is possible in the Blue Ridge Mountain counties.
Wind chills will be near 0 or in the negative digits by mid-afternoon Friday. Temperatures likely won’t reach 40 degrees in Georgia until Monday afternoon.
“Communities across the state are about to see temperatures that they haven’t experienced in a decade or more. And we just want to urge all Georgians to be ready, and certainly, that goes for our teams, and we are working on that as we speak,” Kemp said from his office, surrounded by the state’s top public safety and law enforcement officials.
During the press conference, Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry outlined an extensive plan over the following days to treat and brine roads ahead of the freezing conditions. He said GDOT would treat state routes and interstates north of a line from Columbus to Augusta and all of I-75 north of Macon to the Tennessee border.
Crews are now working to treat about 21,000 miles of roadways. The state transportation department is asking people to stay home and off the roads, if possible, as early as Thursday.
“We ask for your patience while you’re out and about; we ask you to stay home if you don’t have to travel. We will have to brine these roadways during the day,” McMurry said.
He also cautioned that local roads were unlikely to get treated since the state is prioritizing interstates, state routes, bridges, and overpasses.
Freezing temperatures may drop below freezing for areas as far south as central Florida.
Normally, low temperatures this time of year in Atlanta are in the upper 30s, highs are usually in the mid-50s. Much of the eastern half of the United States is expected to be well below average for temperatures during the holiday weekend.
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