ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Officials with Georgia Power, airlines, and state officials are planning for Helene’s impact on Georgia as meteorologists predict a severe weather event.

“This is going to be a fast-moving wind event with rain,” said Chris Stallings, director of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.

Government officials are making sure they’re ready to move Georgians to safety.

“Currently, you’ll see troopers out engaged in clearing major interstates and major roadways for abandoned vehicles to ensure that those evacuating areas can do so safely,” said Stallings.

With Gov. Brian Kemp declaring a state of emergency, 500 National Guardsmen and women are ready to deploy where they’re needed. Georgia Power linemen are also ready to spread across the state’s 159 counties.

FULL COVERAGE: Tropical Storm Helene

“We’ll use drone technology and damage assessment crews to go look at the lines and see where the problems are, and get linemen out into the field to fix the lines,” said Matthew Kent with Georgia Power.

Georgia Power employees will be operating their storm center 24 hours a day, even sleeping at headquarters, to keep an eye on where power outages are happening.

“We’ve been developing our smart grid and our self-healing grid over the years,” said Kent. “And one of the advantages of that is if we do see a downed powerline or a sector that is out, we may be able to reroute power to homes that are not directly impacted by that downed power line, and get them back as soon as possible.”

Airlines are also keeping an eye on Helene.

“Delta teams in our Operations and Customer Center in Atlanta continue to monitor the projected path of Tropical Storm Helene and will make adjustments to flight schedules as needed. The safety of our customers and people is our top priority,” said a spokesperson from Delta Air Lines.

“We are closely monitoring Tropical Storm Helene. We encourage our customers who are traveling to, from or through areas that could be affected by Tropical Storm Helene to take advantage of our waiver policies,” said a spokesperson with United Airlines.

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WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump gave a formal speech Tuesday on plans to prevent the outsourcing of American jobs – and also attacked Vice President Kamala Harris and immigrants across the country.

During an event in Georgia, a key battleground state, Trump said he would try to have foreign companies move jobs into the U.S. by offering lower taxes, fewer regulations, cheaper energy and better access to American markets.

“For years, we watched other countries steal our jobs,” Trump said during the speech at a civic center in Savannah, Georgia. “Now we are going to be going after their jobs.”

In the meantime, Trump again threatened to put tariffs on products from companies that move U.S. jobs overseas, though he did not provide many specifics about his economic promises.

Throughout the 85-minute speech, Trump veered into personal and political attacks on Harris. That included accusing her of trying to institute communism or Marxism in the U.S., which she has never called for, and criticizing her interviews with Oprah Winfrey and others. He also zeroed in on her performance on the debate stage earlier this month and told the crowd of a few thousand supporters that the vice president is “grossly incompetent.”

He also made dark claims that “our country is dying.”

The policy-versus-personal-attacks tension is both a feature and a bug of the Trump campaign, particularly since Harris joined the contest. The former president’s aides and allies, including several GOP members of Congress, have urged Trump to stick to the issues, but Trump said he needs to stay on the attack.

As Trump attacked President Joe Biden and Harris’ handling of the southern border, he also issued several unfounded complaints about the number of migrants in small and medium-sized cities. Attacks against immigrants are nothing new for Trump on the campaign trail, but the former president has faced major backlash in recent weeks for promoting a false conspiracy during his debate against Harris that migrants in Springfield, Ohio, have eaten people’s pets.

“They’re coming from all over the world. What they’re doing to the fabric, to the guts of our country. It’s not even believable. And you see what’s going on,” Trump said.

Georgia is a pivotal swing state in 2024 that could ultimately decide the election. A Real Clear Politics polling average of Georgia surveys finds Trump 2.1 percentage points ahead of Harris. Biden picked up the Peach State in 2020.

Democratic critics on Tuesday described Trump’s in-sourcing and out-sourcing proposals as pie-in-in-the-sky. They also said that other economic plans, including tax cuts on tips, overtime and Social Security, as well as caps on credit card interest, will trigger more inflation and explode the budget deficit.

More: Tax cuts, tariffs and deportation: How economists say Donald Trump would increase inflation

“He says things off the top of his head that tend to often be ridiculous, if not insane,” said businessman Mark Cuban in a video put out by the Harris campaign.

Robert Reich, the labor secretary for former President Bill Clinton, also condemned Trump’s tariff proposals, which tend to target companies in politically important states. He threatened John Deere during a Monday meeting of farmers in Pennsylvania, and has made similar threats about automakers in Michigan.

Referring to the comments about John Deere, Reich said “these tariffs will end up being paid by farmers … John Deere deserves to be called out for its layoffs, but Trump has helped cultivate corporate greed.”

Trump often argues on the campaign trail that his economic plans are designed to encourage businesses to hire Americans and make products in the U.S. – as well as driving a harder bargain against America’s competitors around the world. Still, Trump’s tariff calls have also drawn opposition from some Republicans, including Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

“I’m not a fan of tariffs,” McConnell said Tuesday. “They raise the prices for American consumers.”

A look at the weather report for the Georgia vs Alabama game and whether or not rain could play a factor on Saturday.

The biggest matchup of the entire college football weekend and one of the most anticipated matchups of the entire season is happening in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Georgia Bulldogs are making the trip to the Alabama Crimson Tide to take on Kalen DeBoer in his first year with the program.

One thing that fans are keeping an eye on heading into this week is Hurricane Helene and the potential for rainfall during Saturday’s matchup in Alabama. The storm cell is expected to hit the state of Florida, however, it should not be a factor for the big game. According to the Weather Channel, there is just an 11% chance of rain in Tuscaloosa on Saturday and a 42% chance on Friday. So there might be some wet field conditions, but there should not be any heavy rainfall when kickoff rolls around.

The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide will begin the chase for the magic number this Saturday, September 28th. Kickoff for this matchup is currently set for 7:30.

Georgia Football Injury Report 9/23

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