Hurricane Season

Chatham County and the City of Savannah have declared a local state of emergency.

Volunteers from the American Red Cross of Georgia are among those who have mobilized to southern Georgia to help respond as needed.

The state of emergency went into effect Tuesday and lasts until Friday, Sept. 8 at 11:59 p.m.

Government officials aren’t the only ones opening emergency operation centers as Hurricane Idalia barrels toward the Gulf Coast.

Idalia is expected to start affecting Florida with hurricane-force winds as soon as late Tuesday and arrive on the coast by Wednesday.

Tybee Island leaders have several tips they want residents and visitors to know about Idalia.

On Monday, Idalia was near the coast of Cuba and on a potential track to come ashore as a hurricane in the southern U.S. in the coming days, the National Hurricane Center said.

Some forecasters blamed unusually high sea temperatures for the rare development.

It would be only the second hurricane to form in the tropical Atlantic in June in nearly a century, an expert said.