As Hurricane Dorian continues to move north along the Atlantic coast, Governor Brian Kemp has expanded the State of Emergency to nine additional south Georgia counties that could see serious impacts from the storm.
The counties placed under the State of Emergency Wednesday morning are Appling, Bacon, Bulloch, Clinch, Echols, Evans, Screven, Tattnall and Ware counties.
Currently, there are 21 Georgia counties under a State of Emergency declaration. They are Appling, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Echols, Effingham, Evans, Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Pierce, Screven, Tattnall, Ware and Wayne counties.
A mandatory evacuation order remains in place for six counties east of I-95 on the Georgia coast.
While Dorian has been downgraded to a Category 2, the storm is still predicted to bring tropical force winds, storm surges of up to seven feet and flooding to parts of Georgia's coastline. Forecasters predict the coast will start to feel impacts from Dorian Wednesday afternoon through Thursday.