Hurricane Helene lost none of its power as it crossed the Georgia state line overnight and weakened little as it continued its path, leaving state routes cluttered with debris in heavily-hit Lowndes County and those counties east of Interstate 75.

Georgia Department of Transportation crews started Friday with a list of about 98 state routes that were closed due to debris and/or power lines on the road and flooding. By mid-afternoon Friday, the list had been cut in half, but much work remains to be done and will continue Saturday.

Many of the state routes that remain closed Friday afternoon were those with utility lines entangled in trees that fell. Georgia DOT crews have to wait for the utility company to respond to ensure it is safe to handle the debris. The Georgia DOT district utility office is contacting the correct company for each location and trying to expedite coordination. That has been hampered by widespread power and other utility outages.

Cell towers that were knocked out also hampered communication with district signal technicians, who started Friday in Lake Park and will be moving to Valdosta and Douglas/Coffee County. A contractor is assisting and and signal technicians from Georgia DOT's west district will arrive Saturday. Additional generators to temporarily power signalized intersections will also be arriving. Generators are used to power dark intersections on hurricane evacuation routes and high-volume intersections.

About 265 Southwest district employees were working Hurricane Helene on Friday. Requests have already started coming in from local government officials for assistance clearing roads that are not on the state highway system. Those requests should be submitted through the local Emergency Management Agency.

The intensity and wind speed of Hurricane Helene had not been seen in Southwest Georgia since Hurricane Michael in 2018, though Michael moved much slower, was stronger and "chewed up more on its way into Georgia," District Engineer Scott Chambers said. "We built on the lessons learned from Michael so we were a lot more agile this time."