Brief 9-11-17 4:30 PM
· Tornado Watch for Chatham County has been extended until 10 PM
· As of 4:20 PM, Georgia Power confirmed that 71,258 customers are without power in Chatham County and748,864 statewide. To find out if there is an outage in your area, please visit:http://outagemap.georgiapower.com/external/default.html
· Please notify Georgia Power of power outages by calling 1-888-891-0938 or by visiting their website athttps://www.georgiapower.com/in-your-community/storm-center/report-outage.cshtml
· Damage:
o We encourage residents to assess whether their property suffered any structural damage. Take pictures of all damaged property.
o To report damage to public facilities, downed power lines and trees, flooding and washout please utilize our social media pages or call (912) 201-4500.
§ Be prepared to provide the exact address or intersecting roads for the location you are referencing.
· 911:
o 911 is being inundated with non-emergency calls—please report any damage to (912) 201-4500.
· Hospitals:
o The emergency rooms at Memorial and St. Joseph’s Hospitals remain open.
· SCMPD:
o Answering calls, but flooding is making response difficult.
· EMS:
o Has resumed normal operations.
o Water rescue has begun for those in low-lying areas.
· Public Works:
o Public works has deployed from Hunter Army Air Field to assess the damage and subsequently begin clearing roads.
· Civic Center:
o The Civic Center is NOTa shelter.
· Flooding:
o As of 1:00 pm, the highest that the tide gauge at Fort Pulaski has thus far reached is 11.67 feet. This would be 3.41 feet higher than the normal tide levels.
· Tides:
o Ft. Pulaski reported water levels of 12’ 24” (Hurricane Matthew reached 12’ 4”)
o According to the National Weather Service, the next high tide is expected after midnight at 12:47 AM.
o High tide combined with storm surge can result in swells up to 15 feet.
o Some areas of Chatham County may experience 2 feet of water above ground and isolated areas may have water greater than 6 feet.
· Water:
o Per Consolidated Utilities: If you evacuated or lost water pressure at any point – boil water for a minimum of one minute prior to drinking or cooking. If you remained and there was no lapse in water or water pressure there is no need to boil.
o Individuals should contact their specific provider for more information.
· Looting:
o None at this time.
· The Savannah Hilton Head International Airport website:
o All flights have been cancelled.
o Please refer tohttp://www.flySAV.comand your explicit carrier for the most up-to-date information about specific flights.
· Bridge / Road Closure:
o Highway 80 has been temporarily closed due to water covering the road and remainsclosed at this time
o The Georgia Department of Transportation closed the Talmadge Bridge Sunday, September 10, 2017, at noon and it will remain closed until further notice.
o Road closures will be updated regularly athttp://www.chathamcounty.org/Road-Closures
§ To report a road closure, call CEMA’s call center at (912) 201-4500.
§ Please make sure you give the phone operator the exact location and the reason for the closure (i.e. down power line, down tree, flooding, debris, etc.) so that they can send the appropriate personnel to those locations.
· Re-entry:
o After the storm has passed (it has not passed yet), damage assessment will take place and then re-entry will be discussed. We will work with our state and local partners so that there are no unnecessary delays getting everyone back to their homes.
o Critical workforce individuals should have proper documentation when they re-enter the county.
· Curfew:
o This will be assessed after 5:00 PM today.
· School closures:
o SCCPSS closed through Wednesday, September 13, 2017.
o Universities:
§ Savannah State University, Armstrong State University, and Georgia Southern University will remain closed through Wednesday, September 13, 2017.
· Tybee Updates:
o Bridges and causeways must be inspected before they will reopen.
o Flooding is worse than Hurricane Matthew.
o Tybee does NOT currently have power
o Water and sewage is fully functional due to the preparation efforts prior to Hurricane Irma’s impact