This Thursday's issue of the Bryan County News went to press a day early due to the anticipated arrival of what is expected to be Tropical Storm Michael on Wednesday.

“We’d rather be safe than sorry,” News editor Jeff Whitten said. “Even though it’s only expected to be a tropical storm, forecasts have it getting here around our regular Wednesday deadline. That would make it hard to get coverage of the storm into the Oct. 11 paper even if conditions were perfect, and they’re not expected to be perfect. That, the safety of our employees and ensuring we also serve readers and advertisers led us to move up our press time. We will continue to work during the storm and update readers online.”

The News’ print edition is ordinarily completed on Wednesdays, but it was sent to the press in Statesboro on Tuesday as forecasts called for Hurricane Michael to affect Georgia with heavy rain and winds.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Bryan County Schools and other government offices were open and had not announced closings, but all were updating social media pages such as Facebook with posts urging residents to be prepared and to stay aware of weather conditions.  

Weather forecasts Tuesday called for winds and heavy rain in Coastal Georgia, and Bryan was one of 92 counties included in a state of emergency by Gov. Nathan Deal. No evacuations had been ordered in Georgia.

 Hurricane Michael was expected to make landfall on the Florida panhandle Wednesday morning and begin moving its way northward into Georgia.