ATLANTA — Georgia's Emergency Management Agency/Homeland Security (GEMA) issued a recommendation Thursday that all schools in the state close for tomorrow, Friday September 27, with the expected impact from Hurricane Helene.
The storm is due to make landfall in Florida on Thursday evening before it travels northward into Georgia in the early hours of Friday morning. The hurricane will heavily impact the southern portion of the state and is expected to bring tropical storm conditions to metro Atlanta and north Georgia.
RELATED: Hurricane Helene strengthens to Category 2 storm | Live updates for metro Atlanta, north Georgia
GEMA also recommended that schools in Georgia south of Macon consider early dismissal for today, Thursday September 26.
Already, most districts in the metro Atlanta and north Georgia region have made some kind of schedule alteration in advance of Helene. You can find a list of school closures, online learning accommodations and other changes compiled by 11Alive here. Additionally, for closings farther south in Georgia you can check in with 11Alive's Macon sister station WMAZ.
More on Helene
Helene is about to undergo rapid intensification leading up to landfall late Thursday near Apalachicola. Helene is currently producing sustained winds of 90 mph with stronger gusts as it moves NNE at 12 mph.
Hurricane Helene is forecast to quickly intensify as it moves through the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico, becoming a major hurricane. It will make landfall late Thursday along Florida's Big Bend region, not far from Apalachicola. In anticipation of the storm's impacts, Georgia's governor issued a State of Emergency to free up resources.
11Alive has issued a Weather Impact Alert for Wednesday night for pre-Helene tropical downpours, then for Thursday and Friday in north Georgia due to impacts from Helene.
Download the 11Alive News mobile app and turn on alerts to get the latest updates on the storm's track from our team. Stream extended forecasts and live radar on the 11Alive+ streaming app, available on Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.