The storm, which has already killed at least 10 people in the Caribbean, has created traffic delays across the state as roads are flooded with evacuees fleeing its path. Many hotels are fully booked, and Deal signed an executive order banning price gouging and waiving transportation restrictions for drivers ferrying emergency supplies.

The 30 counties under a state of emergency are: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Jenkins, Jeff Davis, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Pierce, Screven, Tattnall, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne and Ware counties.

The storm tests Deal's overhauled storm response strategy anew, and it is the most significant challenge yet for the new head of the state's emergency management agency.

Deal tapped Homer Bryson, a former corrections commissioner, to lead the agency shortly after Hurricane Matthew killed four people and left tens of millions of damage in its wake after scraping the shoreline in October.

He replaced Jim Butterworth, who publicly announced he was leaving state government shortly after the storm. Documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution showed internal friction between Butterworth and one of the agency’s top officials over the state’s handling of the response.