Georgia
Georgia health officials urge residents to vaccinate against measles
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posts endorsement of measles MMR vaccine on X
Health and Human Services secretary, and vaccine skeptic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supports measles vaccine after visiting West Texas.
ATLANTA – The surge of measles infections in West Texas connected with the death of two children is prompting Georgia health officials to stress the importance of vaccination against the highly contagious disease.
“It’s a really very unique and very, very large outbreak,” State Epidemiologist Dr. Cherie Drenzek said Tuesday. “I think that we can expect that this Texas outbreak will likely go on for months more as well.”
Two children have died during the outbreak in a largely unvaccinated religious community, Drenzek said at a briefing for the Georgia Board of Public Health, adding that a U.S. adult has died of measles as well.
The infections have resulted in nearly two dozen calls to the Georgia Department of Public Health from concerned medical providers about potential measles infections here, but so far Georgia officials have identified only three cases.
The infections were all in one family and resulted from international travel, with no connection to Texas.
But the Texas infections appear to be spreading to nearby states, with New Mexico recently reporting 56 cases and Kansas reporting 24.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday that there have been 607 documented measles cases in the country so far this year, up from 285 in all of 2024. This year, 12% of the infected have been hospitalized.
Children and adults under 20 have been the most affected age group, with a fifth of those hospitalized being under age 5.
The CDC reports that 97% were either unvaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown.
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2020, meaning there was no spread within the country and new cases developed only after travel abroad.
But infections started climbing during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 49 cases in 2021 and 121 in 2022. Infections fell to 59 in 2023 but then started rising sharply last year.
“Every single one is a public health emergency,” Drenzek said.
She said the measles vaccine is the most effective prevention and urged Georgians to ensure they’ve been vaccinated unless they contracted the disease as children and that children get the vaccine in preschool.
Drenzek also urged medical providers to continue calling the state hotline with suspicious cases, at 866-PUB-HLTH.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Storm activity is expected to fire up around midday, starting inland from the Gulf sea breeze. From there, storms will track eastward at 20-25 mph, and that faster movement is actually good news for flooding concerns.
Some minor, temporary flooding is possible through tonight, especially in low-lying areas and spots that typically flood during heavy rain events.
The best chances for stronger storms and heavier rainfall will be north and near I-10 during the afternoon and evening hours.
The Weather Prediction Center has placed roughly the northern two-thirds of the area under a marginal risk of excessive rainfall.
What to expect through the night
Rain chances will stay elevated into the evening but should taper off after midnight. However, inland Northeast Florida could see a late round of showers or storms develop due to enhanced west coast sea breeze.
Gusty winds and frequent lightning can’t be ruled out. Always have your indoor plan ready to go for shelter access.
Cooler temperatures, patchy fog round out the forecast
High temperatures will run below average, topping out in the mid-to-upper 80s. Overnight lows will range from the upper 60s to near 70 degrees across inland Southeast Georgia, with mid-70s expected closer to the Atlantic coast.
Patchy fog is expected early this morning and again Sunday morning. Brief periods of dense fog are possible, so drivers should use caution on the roads during those early morning hours.
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Georgia baseball will resume its NCAA Athens Regional game with Long Island at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 29, after persistent rain—heavy at times—forced the suspension of the game.
The Bulldogs have a commanding 15-1 lead with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth.
The teams and some fans waited out a delay that started 7:14 p.m.
The game was suspended officially at 9:06 p.m. Long Island players were already grabbing their equipment in the dugout to depart for the team hotel before then.
The winner of Georgia-LIU will play No. 3 seed Liberty Saturday in the double-elimination tournament in a game scheduled for 5 p.m.
The loser will play No. 2 seed Boston College at noon.
The No. 3 national seed Bulldogs hit six homers before the game was delayed due to heavy rain.
There was a 53 percent chance of rain at 9 a.m. Saturday, according to weather.com, decreasing to 17 percent at 11 a.m., but there’s a threat of storms in the afternoon.
The Georgia Public Service Commission this week approved a plan expected to reduce utility bills for Georgia Power customers by a few dollars a month.
The commission said the change will generate about $285 million in total annual savings for Georgia Power customers, or roughly $50 per year — about $4.04 per month — for the average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month.
The Georgia PSC voted Thursday to lower overall rates as part of the approved plan.
Georgia Power Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Tyler Cook said the decision will provide “real savings for Georgia families and businesses as the heat of summer begins and energy use increases.”
“At Georgia Power, our teams work every day to run our business efficiently and keep reliable and affordable energy flowing to our customers,” Cook said.
Cook said the outcome followed months of work between Georgia Power and PSC staff, including reviews, public hearings and input from residents and intervenors.
The approved plan is tied to a stipulated agreement reached earlier this month involving two cases filed with the PSC in February, the Fuel Cost Recovery case and the Storm Cost Recovery case. Those cases addressed recovering fuel costs used to generate electricity and expenses tied to restoring power after storms.
Georgia Power said its rates remain, on average, about 15% below the national average and that it is still on track to provide additional annual savings of about $102 per year for typical residential customers beginning in 2029.
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