Open Thread, and Two Resources to Navigate Hurricane Irma
While we’re normally a political site, this weekend and the beginning of next week will see a serious hurricane/tropical storm/tropical depression hit (depending on what part of the state you’re in). Hurricane Irma has a lot of Georgians and a lot of visitors on the roads headed inland. Georgia 511 is a good way to monitor traffic speeds on the interstates. You may want to also download the FEMA app onto your phone, just in case. It will send you weather alerts for up to 5 locations and will list information regarding shelters nearby. It also has a good preparation list, if you need to do some last minute shopping.
Please be careful as Irma comes through. We don’t say it enough, but our readers are important to all of us, and we expect you all to be back here commenting in full force next week!
Now, enough with the seriousness. Consider this your weekend open thread.
About Author
Holly Croft
Holly is an archivist at one of Georgia's institutions of higher learning. In a past life, she was a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill. She cares a lot about records management, open records laws, and privacy laws. Political persuasion? It's complicated. What's not complicated is that she's proudly equal parts Bulldog and Tar Heel.
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Comcast Opens Free XFINITY WiFi Service Ahead of Hurricane Irma
SAVANNAH, GA – September 8, 2017 – To help residents and emergency personnel stay connected if Hurricane Irma makes its anticipated landfall in Georgia, Comcast is opening nearly 10,000 Xfinity WiFi hotspots throughout impacted areas to anyone who needs them, including non-Xfinity customers, for free.
Comcast has opened up all Wi-Fi hotspots in Savannah and surrounding communities, as well as in Augusta and Brunswick.
For a map of the Xfinity WiFi hotspots, which are located both indoors and outdoors in places such as shopping districts, parks and businesses, residents can visit http://www.Xfinity.com/wifi. Once in range of a hotspot, they may select the “xfinitywifi” network name in the list of available hotspots and then launch a browser.
Xfinity internet customers can sign in with their usernames and passwords, and they will be automatically connected to Xfinity WiFi hotspots in the future. Non-Xfinity internet subscribers should visit the “Not an Xfinity Internet Customer” section on the sign-in page to get started. Non-customers will be able to renew their complimentary sessions every two hours through September 15, 2017.
“It’s critical that impacted residents have a means of communication at their disposal before, during and after a storm with the potential impact of Hurricane Irma,” said Doug Guthrie, Regional Senior Vice President for Comcast in Atlanta. “By activating our Wi-Fi network today throughout impacted communities, we can help more people stay connected at a critical time.”
Comcast Preparations and Customer Tips for Hurricane Irma
Comcast is also making extensive preparations at its facilities throughout Georgia, including staging emergency generators and fuel trucks, as well as bringing in additional technical and network restoration teams that are ready to be deployed as the storm’s path becomes clearer.
Comcast’s goal is to work to restore any services impacted for customers as quickly as possible and as soon as it is safe for its employees to do so. Customers should remember that emergency management procedures in Georgia dictate that power must be restored first and Comcast must receive clearance that it is safe for its crews to begin any restoration work.
If Comcast services are down in an area because of a power outage, local power must be restored before video, phone and internet services can begin working again.
Customer tips:
• The most effective way to get outage updates and information about Comcast services is to visit http://www.Xfinity.com/MyAccount or to access the Xfinity My Account app from any secure, internet-enabled mobile device.
• If customers have electrical power but Xfinity service has not yet come back on, Comcast recommends that customers restart or reset devices, including wireless gateways, modems, routers and cable boxes.
• Customers should unplug their equipment or use a surge protector to plug in TVs, modems and cable boxes so that when power is restored, those devices aren’t damaged by power surges.
• Customers can chat online with an agent or visit http://www.customer.xfinity.com/help-and-support. Using social media, customers can connect with Comcast on Twitter at @ComcastCares, or visit @ComcastSouth for regular storm updates.
this is a good thing for them to do.
I still hate Comcast with the fire of a thousand burning suns. Well maybe now only 999 burning suns now.
Lea, did your parents head out?
yep. they got out. they are being put to work here doing house chores. 🙂
1) We have been contacting friends and family riding it out in Florida offering to buy and overnight things that are not available or in short supply in Florida now. Made sure they know we can go to hardware store and ship after Irma leaves. Suggest readers call their friends and family in coastal areas to offer to buy and ship after the storm. Potable water always a big concern after a hurricane so our network verified everyone knew how to chlorinate water to make drinkable, and other basic tips out of the old Boy Scout manual.
2) We are seeing a lot of Floridians arriving in the north Georgia mountains today – going to their ‘weekend get aways’ or summer homes. Several family members were in a local country store on Hwy. 52 today enjoying ice cream. Good to have them.
Meanwhile, my congressman…Doug Collins….voted against hurricane aid to Texas.
When are we going to accept the fact that Republicans are the problem?
So did mine, Jody Hice. To be fair, no-voting gopers said they objected to coupling hurricane relief funding with an extension of government funding and the federal debt ceiling. They must remain pure.
Why sully themselves with the outrage of funding the government three months more?
We now need Rumor control. I blame Alex Jones for this.
https://www.fema.gov/hurricane-irma-rumor-control
Keep us informed of your experiences. It’s anecdotal, but I observed many more than the typical number of FL license plates on vehicle travelling north during my yesterday morning I-85 commute.
I was not schedule to leave till Sunday morning. I’m still in a mandatory. Waiting to see.
They should have reversed I 16 yesterday. The majority of the coast evacuated yesterday. Florida drivers all over I 95 & 16 Thursday. I called my neighbor this morning to let them know I shut up her vacation unit, and she told me her daughter’s family of 7 in Miami drove 27 hour straight to get to her home in Duluth. SMH.
Keep in mind that with Zone B & C in Savannah no longer under mandatory evacuation zones, NHS can now use Hunter Army Air field, which has a Coast Guard S&R station, FEMA can now use locations off I95 as a staging area and Georgia National Guard can return to the airport (weather allowing). Reversing I16 allows for assets to be moved back to the coast before the weather turn in the next 36 hours.
Sis, that cone seems to be inching west. Maybe your neck of the woods won’t be as severely impacted!! Good news for you! Do you still need to head to Atlanta??
I saw Atlanta issued their first tropical storm warning ever.
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I gave up my hotel reservation this morning. When I called the reception desk, They had a huge waiting list of people out of Florida’s West Coast. She was going to call and make someone happy. I’m still going inland later today to friends who are in Chatham’s zone C. Astronomical High tide is Monday. Matthew had a record tidal surge at Fort Pulaski at 12.6 feet +/- at a low moon phase. The 1:00 pm tide Monday is estimated to be over 14 feet as of the Sunday Morning reports.