RABUN COUNTY, Ga. — North Georgia is bracing for the potential of thousands of evacuees fleeing Hurricane Florence before it makes landfall somewhere in the Carolinas.
Severe Weather Team 2 says Hurricane Florence is currently a major Category 4 storm that is expected to hit sometime Thursday.
In Georgia, hotels and motels are expecting to see a rush of evacuees trying to get out of harm’s way. Area campgrounds and RV parks are also expecting to see evacuees.
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Severe Weather Team 2 is tracking Florence for updates on the Channel 2 Action News Nightbeat at 11 p.m.
Channel 2's Richard Elliot traveled to River Falls at the Gorge Campground in Rabun County, where evacuees have already arrived at ahead of the storm.
“We’re getting out of the way,” said Ben of Fort Myers, Florida, who didn't want to give his last name.
Ben and his wife were expecting to vacation in South Carolina for another month, but they told Ellliot they decided to pack up their RV and head to River Falls.
“With this hurricane, and we’re from Florida, and we know about hurricanes, we decided not to do that, and we’re proceeding into Georgia so we’d be safe," Ben said.
[LATEST: Hurricane Florence now major Category 4 hurricane with wind up to 130 mph]
Robert and Torri Gayle run River Falls. They told Channel 2 Action News that they are already getting phone calls from people asking about availability.
“We started getting them about two days ago,” said Torri Gayle. “They’re calling in regards to if we have availability.”
River Falls is one of the larger campgrounds in the area and also took in evacuees from Hurricane Irma in 2017. That storm wound up spinning through North Georgia, too, and did damage to River Falls.
The Gayles said they’ll try and accommodate anybody and everybody who needs shelter.
[EXPLAINER: How does a hurricane form?]
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