Gov. Brian Kemp is authorizing thousands of members of the Georgia National Guard to prepare for possible deployment in the southern part of the state as Hurricane Debby continues its path across Florida.
Kemp signed the new executive order on Monday morning, less than three hours after the storm made landfall. In the order, Kemp authoriized the Georgia Department of Defense to prepare up to 2,000 troopers to be used in the preparation, response, and recovery efforts.
This order comes after Kemp declared a State of Emergency over the storm.
At around 7 a.m., Debby made landfall near the tiny community of Steinhatchee on Florida's Big Bend region. The storm is a Category 1 with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. The storm has since been downgraded to the tropical storm.