Liberty County is lifting the dusk to dawn curfew effective as of 5 p.m. today.  According to the press release and under the request and recommendation from local officials, Governor Nathan Deal is lifting the mandatory evacuation order for the mainland of Bryan, Liberty and McIntosh counties.

Local officials may still impose restrictions on reentry and residents and business owners seeking to return should check to ensure they meet all local requirements.

This means local residents, who were under the mandatory evacuation orders for households east of Highway 17, can begin to return home.

Liberty County Emergency Management Director Mike Hodges said residents should be aware that many areas still lack critical life-sustaining services and infrastructure. Those choosing to return at this time may not have power, water or sewage services, and many roads remain inaccessible.

According to the Georgia Department of Transportation I-16 eastbound was set to reopen at 3 p.m. today.

Hurricane Matthew made landfall late Friday evening through Saturday morning bringing category two winds and pounding rain to the area.

By Saturday morning roughly 19,000 customers were without power.

By Sunday afternoon, most of the least affected areas started to regain power and businesses opening.

County officials decided to lift the curfew to help facilitate recovery efforts.

Hodges stressed that their offices are aware of current outages and working with damage assessments crews in keeping their reports up to date as quickly as possible.

All resources are currently on hand trying to restore power to affected areas.

Liberty County Administrator Joey Brown said one of the main cell towers owned by Verizon and utilized by several cell carriers and Comcast cable, has fiber optics wires that are damaged and in need of repair. He said the company has workers trying to reconnect the fiber optic wires and checking the tower. Until those repairs are made folks should be aware they will not have cable, internet access and possibly spotty or no cell service.

Liberty County School system Chief Academic Officer Patti Crane issued a release which said: Due to the impact of Hurricane Matthew on many of our LCSS families and staff - Liberty County Schools will be closed on Tuesday, October 11, 2016 for all staff members.  The school system will continue to assess all facility conditions and keep you informed with any further information.

For more information call 368-2202.