A westward shift from early predictions kept Hurricane Irma from hitting Liberty County and Coastal Georgia harder than anticipated, but gusting winds and strong storm surge during high tide did allow the storm to land some punches.

Since the storms passing, all evacuation orders and curfews have been lifted for Liberty and Long counties.
As things return to normal here are things you may need to know.

Schools
First Presbyterian Christian Academy, all Liberty County School System and Long County Schools will return to their regular schedules Thursday. DoDEA Fort Stewart Schools will also have all students and staff returning Thursday.

Power
As of noon Tuesday, Georgia Power had restored power to 1,896 customers that had lost power in Liberty County. The company still had 100 affected households to restore. Long County had 982 customers affected by Irma with nearly all restored. Georgia Power customers who still need restoration should call 1-(888)-891-0938.

Nearly 2,000 Coastal Electric Cooperative customers had to be restored. If you are still experiencing a power outage call 1-(800) - 421-2343.

Canooche EMC customers that still have outages are to call 1-(800)-342-0134.

Storm debris, trash pickup

Storm debris and trash pickup

Hinesville will begin trash services Thursday. The roadside pickup for trash will follow this schedule:

Normal Monday and Tuesday pickups will be done on Thursday. Those with normal service on Wednesday and Thursday will have their trash picked up on Friday. Friday service will be done on Saturday.

Trash pickup is anticipated to return to a normal schedule on Saturday. The city will begin picking up yard debris on Monday to give residents an opportunity to return and clean. Residents of Walthourville and Flemington may take storm debris to the roadside for pickup.

All areas of unincorporated Liberty County should take storm debris to their closest convenience site. There will be no roadside pickup of storm debris in the unincorporated areas of Liberty County. All Liberty County Convenience Centers are now operating on their normal operating schedule.

Long County Code Enforcement has recommended to place debris piles near the road so that the county can work on the assessment of the clean-up.

Business
Many businesses reopened Tuesday, after battening down the hatches over the weekend for Monday’s storm. Most were expected to be operating normally Wednesday.