By Michael Loccisano and Matt BarrowsThe first wave of Hurricane Matthew has moved inland in Georgia, and the second is coming ashore as Georgia’s basketball team is preparing for the first of three storms that will arrive this weekend.
The first storm, Hurricane Matthew, is expected to hit the state on Sunday and make landfall around 1 p.m.
ET.
The first storm is a category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (145 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center.
It is forecast to bring torrential rain and gusty winds, with the heaviest impacts in the northeast.
The second storm is expected between Sunday and Monday, according to AccuWeather.
The storm is forecast for a wind speed of about 70 mph (115 kph).
It is expected in the northern and southern portions of the state, according with the NHC.
The third storm, Tropical Storm Harvey, is forecast in the eastern half of the continental United States and southeastern Texas.
The National Hurricane Centre has the storm moving away from Texas to the eastern tip of Florida.
The storm will have a sustained wind speed near 90 mph (135 kph) by Monday afternoon, according the NCHC.
The hurricane is expected along a path from the east of Texas to Florida, according Accuweather.
This is the first storm that has been observed in Georgia since Hurricane Matthew hit the region on Oct. 31.
The state’s governor, Brian Kemp, has ordered schools and other critical services closed on Monday to prepare for the storms.
The NCHCM said the storm is moving away east of Georgia and will be bringing heavy rain, wind gusts up to 75 mph (130 kph); the storm will continue to produce hurricane force winds by Tuesday afternoon.
The state has experienced severe flooding on its roads and highways, and many areas in and around the state are expected to see flooding, including the cities of Atlanta, Savannah and Augusta.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Georgia from 11 a.m.-5 p. m.
EDT (15:00-18:00 GMT), according with Accu.
The advisory was issued for parts of Georgia that are primarily agricultural.
The most intense rain is expected across the southeast and southwest of the country, with winds of 70 mph or more.
The heaviest rainfall will be from central and eastern Georgia to the Gulf of Mexico.
Heavy rain is also forecast to fall over parts of Texas, Texas and the Gulf Coast, and could cause flash flooding.
Forecasters expect that a tropical depression will form in the Gulf as the storm moves southward.
The area will then develop into a tropical storm, with wind gust to 70 mph.
Forecaster Michael Barrows said in a Facebook post that Matthew is likely to move into the Gulf late on Sunday night.
Barrows said Matthew is “the most intense tropical storm to strike the Gulf in recorded history,” and that it is expected “to create widespread flooding and significant damage.”