AC repair inDock Junctio, GA

SAVANNAH, Ga. —

Update 2 p.m.: The tornado watches in our area have expired.

Update 1:24 p.m.: The Pierce County tornado warning has expired.

Update 1:06 p.m.: A tornado warning has been issued for Pierce County until 1:30 p.m. Watch live video above.

Update 11:51 a.m.: The Jasper County tornado warning has been canceled.

Update 11:40 a.m.: A tornado warning has been issued in Jasper County until noon.

Update 10 a.m.: Check out the latest forecast in the video above.

Update 9:05 a.m.: The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for the following counties until 2 p.m.:

Georgia

South Carolina

Initial report:

Hearst Owned

Heavy rain likely after 1 pm

Savannah, Ga. (WJCL)- Impact Weather Day… A cold front will approach the area today. The morning will be dry, but showers and thunderstorms are likely after 12 pm. The line of thunderstorms will near areas west of I-95 from 12 pm-3 pm and I-95 to the beach from 3 pm – 5 pm.

Hearst Owned

Isolated severe storms possible

The impacts will be heavy rain and gusty winds. There is a chance for isolated severe thunderstorms with the main threat gusty winds over 40 mph and isolated tornado possible. Highs are going to be warm for January with most areas in the upper-70s.

Hearst Owned

Dry weather Thursday - weekend

A cold front moves off the coast on Thursday morning. There will be lots of sunshine on Thursday afternoon with a little cooler afternoon temperature with westerly winds.

Hearst Owned

Lots of sunshine this weekend

There will be lots of sunshine in the forecast Friday through the weekend. It will be cooler by the end of the week with highs in the mid-60s.

Hearst Owned

Dry for most of next week

TRENDING STORIES

Forecast:

Today: Mostly Cloudy with PM Showers and Storms. High: 78.

Tonight: Mostly Cloudy. Low: 56.

Thursday: Morning Clouds Then Mostly Sunny. High: 74.

Friday-Saturday: Mainly Sunny and Cooler. High: 64-66.

Sunday: Mostly Sunny. High: 70.

Monday: More Clouds than Sun. High: 70

Sun and Tides:

Sunrise: 7:25 am Sunset: 5:32 pm

Low: 12:40 pm (0.5’) High: 6:27 pm (6.0’)

Have a good day,

Jonathan Myers

Primary Content

Credit: Stephen B. Morton/Georgia Port Authority via AP

The Port of Savannah plans a $410 million overhaul of one of its sprawling terminals to make room for loading and unloading larger ships while focusing its business almost exclusively on cargo shipped in containers.

The Georgia Ports Authority's governing board approved the project Monday under a plan to expand Savannah's capacity for cargo containers by more than 50% by 2025.

"We're taking the Georgia ports from a Southeast gateway to a global gateway," said Griff Lynch, executive director of the authority, which has seen over a decade of explosive growth at the state-owned seaports in Savannah and Brunswick.

It means major changes for Savannah's 200-acre (81-hectare) Ocean Terminal, which currently handles most of Georgia's breakbulk cargo such as lumber, paper and steel. Those operations will move during the next year to the Port of Brunswick about 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Savannah.

Ocean Terminal will be converted to handling cargo in containers — large metal boxes used to move goods from consumer electronics to frozen chicken by ship, train or truck. The terminal's berths will be upgraded with room to service two large ships simultaneously using eight new ship-to-shore cranes, at an additional cost of $163 million.

The changes come as U.S. seaports including Savannah, the nation's fourth-busiest container port, have spent more than a year scrambling to keep up with a surge in imports that left ships piled up offshore waiting to dock. Mass traffic jams off the West Coast caused shippers to divert cargo to Savannah and other ports along the East and Gulf Coasts.

That resulted in Savannah handing a record 5.8 million container units of imports and exports across its docks in the 2022 fiscal year that ended June 30. That volume was just shy of Savannah's current capacity of 6 million container units.

The influx of cargo has begun to subside amid inflation and a shift to increased consumer spending on travel and services as opposed to retail goods. Still, Savannah's port saw its two busiest months ever in August and October. And it still had 19 ships waiting offshore Monday morning. Lynch said he expects continued growth, just at a slower pace, as the backlog subsides.

The port authority's plan to add capacity for an additional 3 million container units by 2025 would give Savannah more breathing room when the next cargo crush arrives. As Ocean Terminal undergoes its transformation, a newly expanded cargo berth will open next summer at Savannah's main container terminal.

"This is going to get us back to more of a normal schedule as far as capacity, where we try to stay at about 80% so we've go room for growth," said Joel Wooten, the port authority's board chairman. "It's going to help the state of Georgia and the whole Southeast."

Lynch said private terminal operators will still move some breakbulk cargo through the Savannah port, which will also continue to handle military equipment shipped overseas and back as needed by Army units at neighboring Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield.

The expanded Ocean Terminal berths will be built in phases, with the first opening in 2025 and the second in 2026, Lynch said. He said converting an existing terminal to handle large container ships will be more efficient than building a brand new one, which would take up to five years.

Tags: Georgia Atlanta Savannah Port of Savannah Georgia Ports Authority

Secondary Content

Cusseta is Georgia's most affordable place to live. A data company crunched numbers to find pockets of affordability in the state.

Deb Belt, Patch Staff

GEORGIA — When the American Dream costs a mountain of debt and 60-hour work-weeks, it can start to seem more like a nightmare. Fortunately, there are still parts of Georgia that qualify as affordable, according to a new study of the Most Affordable Places to Live in Georgia.

The consumer financial data company SmartAsset concluded that Cusseta-Chattahoochee County is the most affordable place to own a home in all of Georgia. The company crunched the numbers on taxes, homeowners’ insurance, and home costs relative to the local median income to come up with the ten most affordable places to buy a home in the Peach State.

However, the pandemic changed the way Americans think about where to live, and the nation saw a mass migration of remote workers looking for space to spread out during the pandemic without busting the budget.

Find out what's happening in Across Georgiawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to a Bankrate/YouGov poll, more than 10 percent of Americans moved during the pandemic — mostly to smaller and less dense cities. Roughly a quarter of those who moved said they made their decision because of the pandemic.

Though the Atlanta metro has a reputation for climbing cost of living, including housing, there are still pockets of the state where a person can own a home without spending more than a quarter of their income on housing.

Find out what's happening in Across Georgiawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Still, SmartAsset managed to find ten smaller cities where the American Dream meets affordability. These are places where homeownership costs were lowest relative to the median income in each location.

Cusseta-Chattahoochee County came in as the state’s most affordable place to live thanks to a low average annual mortgage payment of just over $3,000. With a median income of $47,000, the average resident could easily afford to buy a home.

Not surprisingly, the further you get from the Atlanta area, the more affordable housing becomes.

In Georgia, the average homeowner pays $1,237 a year in property taxes, the average annual mortgage payment is $5,315, the average median income is $58,700.

According to SmartAsset, the top 10 most affordable cities in Georgia are:

The full report, including the methodology, key findings and additional infographics, can be found here.

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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced last week that it has awarded more than $280 million in discretionary grant funding through the new Port Infrastructure Development Program. This funding is designed to improve port facilities at or near coastal seaports.

The Port of Savannah is a major recipient.

“Ports are gateways to the world and port infrastructure investments will improve the regional economy, increase productivity and economic competitiveness, and create more jobs,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

The Port Infrastructure Development Program supports efforts by ports and industry stakeholders to improve facility and freight infrastructure to ensure our nation’s freight transportation needs, present and future, are met. The program provides capital financing and project management assistance to improve port capacity and efficiency. Of the 15 projects that were awarded grants, six are located in Opportunity Zones, which were created to revitalize economically distressed communities using private investments.

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to work more directly with America’s ports to enhance their facilities,” said Maritime Administrator Mark H. Buzby. “The grants awarded will ensure that these facilities are operating at their highest, most productive capacities.”

The United States relies heavily on its maritime services and infrastructure. Our ports are an unsung economic boon, directly and indirectly providing countless jobs for Americans. Improving these facilities benefits the American economy and increases the capacity and efficiency of our transportation and supply network nationwide.

A complete list of grant recipients is below:

Anchorage, Alaska

Port of Alaska Modernization Program (awarded $20,000,000)

This grant will be used to support the construction of a new petroleum and cement marine terminal. This terminal, a key component of the Port of Alaska Modernization Program, will support the transfer of refined petroleum and cement from bulk carriers to onshore pipelines and storage facilities. This project also promotes energy-efficient trade throughout southcentral Alaska while increasing the facility’s overall efficiency.

Long Beach, California

Alameda Corridor South Access: Terminal Island Rail Junction Project (awarded $14,500,000)

Located at the Port of Long Beach, this grant will be used to improve the capacity at the Terminal Island Wye rail junction by constructing and replacing rails and siding that will improve the efficiency of rail operations. The intended rail enhancements will increase the longevity of the resulting infrastructure.

Los Angeles, California

Port of Los Angeles Multimodal Freight Network Improvement Program: Fenix Container Terminal Intermodal Railyard Expansion and Modernization Project (awarded $18,184,743)

The grant will be used to increase the capacity of the existing on-dock railyard by adding 11,500 linear feet of track. This project will improve the terminal’s rail capacity by 10 percent while also creating utility corridors and draining systems that will minimize the impact of storm-related damage.

Cape Canaveral, Florida

Port Canaveral Cargo Berth Rehabilitation and Modernization Project (awarded $14,100,000)

This grant will be used to bring the facility into a state of good repair by completing several construction projects that will improve its resiliency.

Miami-Dade County, Florida

PortMiami Cargo Yard Resiliency Improvements and Fumigation and Cold Chain Processing Center Project (awarded $43,928,393) (Opportunity Zone)

This grant will be used to supplement PortMiami infrastructure improvements to upgrade drainage and resiliency methods, along with the reorganization of cargo containers. The project will also construct a state-of-the-art fumigation and cold chain processing facility. This project is located in an Opportunity Zone.

Savannah, Georgia

Container Berth 1 Realignment (awarded $34,600,000)

The grants will be used to realign the Port of Savannah’s easternmost berth to enable the berth to receive 14,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) container ships. The three-component project consists of demolishing, rebuilding, and deepening the berth to allow vessels to take full advantage of the adjacent navigation channel. The project will enhance the port’s overall speed and efficiency of processing containers.

LaPlace, Louisiana

Globalplex Multi-Modal Connections Project (awarded $13,410,662)

Located at the Port of South Louisiana, the grant will be used to add multimodal connections and enhance the operation efficiency of Globalplex, a public port with a 335-acre maritime industrial park. The project consists of five construction components which, upon completion, will promote exports and improve the state of good repair and resiliency of the complex.

Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth Port Logistics Hub 2020 Revitalization and Expansion (awarded $10,500,000) (Opportunity Zone)

Located in an Opportunity Zone, the grant will be used to fund the construction of a rail-served warehouse and rehabilitate more than 1,700 linear feet of failing wharf walls at multiple berths inside of the port. The project also includes the addition of an on-dock rail and construction of a new roll-on/roll-off deck and supports the expansion of existing port operations.

Harrison County, Mississippi

Port of Gulfport Access Project (awarded $15,760,000) (Opportunity Zone)

This grant will be used to improve the roadways leading to and from the entrance to the port, which serves all freight and military cargo. These improvements will promote exports and improve the resiliency of the pavement on local roads. This project is located in an Opportunity Zone.

Cleveland, Ohio

Port of Cleveland’s Dock 24 and 26 Master Modernization and Rehabilitation Project (awarded $11,000,000) (Opportunity Zone)

Located in an Opportunity Zone, the grant will be used to rehabilitate two of the port’s main docks, which promote regional exports and improve operations and safety activities.

Toledo, Ohio

Port of Toledo Intermodal Project (awarded $16,000,000) (Opportunity Zone)

The grant will be used to reconstruct and upgrade the dock at Midwest Terminals Facility 1 at the port, as well as to develop a liquid transloading facility. These projects are part of the port’s 10-year capital improvement plan, which will restore the docks’ structural integrity and promote efficient energy trade. This project is located in an Opportunity Zone.

Charleston, South Carolina

Wando Welch Terminal Wharf Toe Wall and Berth Deepening Project (awarded $19,986,000)

The grant will be used to construct an underwater retaining wall and deepen three berths at the terminal to enable the facility to handle larger container ships. This project complements the ongoing U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to deepen the navigation channel leading to the terminal.

Corpus Christi, Texas

Avery Point Public Oil Docks Redevelopment (awarded $17,600,000) (Opportunity Zone)

This grant will be used to fund Phase 1 of the Port of Corpus Christi’s plan to refurbish docks at the Avery Point terminal that is used by a number of the port’s customers to transload petroleum products. The project will double the capacity of Oil Dock 3, enabling the port to meet the growing demand for berth space to support exports of refined petroleum products. This project is located in an Opportunity Zone.

Houston, Texas

Bayport Terminal Intermodal Expansion to Meet Demand Project (awarded $21,840,000)

The grant will be used to develop 1,000 linear feet of green space site into a wharf at the Bayport Terminal at the Port of Houston. This development includes installation of crane rail to facilitate the ability of existing cranes to operate on the newly developed wharf space. This project will enable the terminal to handle 2.4 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) container ships annually.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Agricultural Maritime Export Facility (awarded $15,893,543)

Located at the Port of Milwaukee, the grant will be used to develop an under-utilized parcel of land at the port into an export facility for agricultural commodities. The project promotes exports and energy-efficient trade.