Gov. Nathan Deal issues emergency declaration for 83 Georgia counties

ATLANTA — Gov. Nathan Deal has issued a state of emergency due to winter weather for 83 counties, spanning much of central and north Georgia.

The line extends from Columbus to Macon to Augusta and northward. State government will be closed tomorrow in the impacted areas for non-essential personnel.

In his executive order, Deal said an inch or more of snow was expected in the affected counties and that temperatures over the next two days could allow for hazardous travel because of melting and refreezing ice. The winter storm also has the potential to cause significant damage and power outages, the governor said.

The Peachtree City office of the National Weather Service was predicting an 80 percent chance of snow in the Atlanta area overnight with accumulations of 1-2 inches and winds of 10-15 mph with gusts up to 20 mph. The overnight low was to be 17 degrees with the wind chill dipping to 5 degrees.

“Following the latest update from the National Weather Service, and acting upon the recommendation from the state’s Emergency Operations Command, I’ve issued an executive order closing state government for non-essential personnel tomorrow,” Deal said. “The Georgia Department of Transportation will continue treating our roads and interstates.

“To ensure people’s safety and to allow GDOT to do its job, I urge people to remain home and off the roads. We will continue monitoring the weather and will provide updates as necessary.”

In the order, signed at 9:45 p.m., the affected counties include Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattahoochee, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Columbia, Coweta, Crawford, Dade, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Elbert, Fannin, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Franklin, Fulton, Gilmer, Glascock, Gordon, Greene, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Hancock, Haralson, Harris, Hart, Heard, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Lincoln, Lumpkin, Madison, Marion, McDuffie, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Murray, Muscogee, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding , Pickens, Pike, Polk, Putnam, Rabun, Richmond, Rockdale, Spalding, Stephens, Talbot, Taliaferro, Taylor, Towns, Troup, Union, Upson, Walker, Walton, Warren, Washington, White, Whitfield and Wilkes.