Tropical Storm Michael moving through Middle Georgia. Hunker down in place and stay off the streets

Wind gusts whipped trees in downtown Macon early Thursday as what is left of Hurricane Michael tracked through Georgia.

Many Middle Georgians could be waking up without electricity as trees snapped and power lines came down.

Multiple trees are down around Bibb County.

In a downtown Macon parking garage, 42-year-old Damon Taylor rode out the storm.

“It was really, really bad for the trees because the trees were blowing left and right,” Taylor said. “Trash cans were blowing up the road and it seemed like it was rough but no business or house damage or nothing like that so it might have blown over for a while.”

Just before 11 p.m. Wednesday, Michael was still a weakened Category 1 storm with 75 mph winds. The storm was just to the southwest of Eastman and to the southeast of Hawkinsville moving northeast at 20 miles per hour.

Winds gusted to 44 mph just before 11 p.m. and 53 mph just before midnight at the Middle Georgia Regional Airport in Macon just.

The extent of damage from now Tropical Storm Michael won’t fully be known until assessment crews can get out once weather conditions improve after dawn.

Macon-Bibb County Emergency Management Agency director Spencer Hawkins urged local residents to shelter in place overnight saying they should be eating breakfast Thursday morning in the same place they ate Wednesday supper.

“The worst part of it is going to be an overnight event,” Hawkins said. “Stay inside. Stay close to home and stay safe.”

Local government offices will be closed Thursday in Macon, but essential workers will report for duty.

Work crews will be out as soon as possible with chainsaws to clear any downed trees from roads and allow utility workers to begin restoring electricity.

People are urged to use caution in case live wires are down near their homes.

Macon-Bibb County assistant to the county manager for public affairs, Chris Floore, asks everyone to stay home Thursday morning if they can.

“We need to keep the roads clear so that utility crews from Georgia Power and others can work hand-in-hand with public works,” Floore said.

Advanced Disposal will not be running trucks Thursday in Bibb and Houston counties.

“Please do not put those trash cans at the curb. ... We don’t want them blowing around and causing a danger to anybody,” an Advanced Disposal spokeswoman said.

Through the day Thursday, crews will be able to tell if Michael packed a stronger punch than Irma, which downed multiple trees in Macon neighborhoods in September of 2017.

Almost 100,000 cubic yards of Irma debris was collected over a few months, Floore said.

Once it is safe, property owners should pile limbs and smaller debris in 4-foot lengths at the curb.

Trunk pieces and branches should be placed in separate piles and away from leaves and pine straw which should be bagged or placed in trash cans.

“They go to different landfills,” Floore said.

No debris can be taken to the Walker Road Landfill off Seventh Street.

The National Weather Service expects storm conditions to linger in Georgia through Thursday afternoon, although the maximum winds and heaviest rains should have cleared overnight. Check macon.com for the latest weather conditions.

The hurricane also could have a devastating impact on Georgia’s pecan crop.

As the massive storm was still gaining steam in the Gulf of Mexico, Delise Paul Knight, of Pineola Farms in Fort Valley, was asking people to pray for pecan farmers and ask for protection for the crop.

“This is a critical time of year in a farmer’s life who is farming pecans,” Knight said in a live post. “The trees are full with pecans. They are weighted down.”

Knight explained that the nuts are still moist and heavy and one branch snapping could damage other parts of the tree as it falls.

“The limbs are hanging low and can’t take much wind,” she said.

Her appeal for prayer covers not only growers, but those who work the fields, ship crops and rely on agriculture for income.

Robins Air Force Base shut down operations for non-essential personnel after Wednesday’s day shift and will be assessing conditions Thursday morning.

The 116/461 Air Control Wing, E-8C JSTARS aircraft evacuated inland out of the storm path as of Tuesday.

Check macon.com for the latest school, business and government closings in the aftermath of the storm.

This story was originally published October 10, 2018 at 10:48 AM.