Unlike Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton is unlikely to impact our area except for Florida evacuees who may end up waiting out the storm here. Even south Georgia and the eastern part of the state, where cleanup is continuing in the wake of Helene, are not likely to impacted much.
“All eyes are on high-end Category 5 Hurricane Milton in the Gulf,” the National Weather Service (NWS) Peachtree City office said in an advisory Monday afternoon. “Aside from gusty winds (up to 25 mph) and the potential for rainfall up to (one inch) on Thursday in our far southeastern counties, we are not currently expecting any meaningful impacts to north and central Georgia. #gawx “
Best bet right now is that Milton will make landfall Wednesday evening in the Tampa area and move across Florida, then swing northward in the Atlantic just off the eastern seaboard.
Already some mandatory evacuations are underway in Florida, and Georgia officials and businesses are bracing for an influx of evacuees similar to what happened when Hurricane Irma tore through Florida in 2017. Hurricane Irma Local Report/Summary (weather.gov)
Many of them waited out the storm in motels, state parks and other locales in Gainesville and other parts of northeast Georgia.