SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) - Georgia Governor Brian Kemp made an appearance on Wednesday at the Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) operation center ahead of Hurricane Milton.  Kemp issued a state of emergency on Tuesday for counties who may be impacted by the storm. Chatham County is in operating conditions three, which is their readiness phase. “A state of emergency has been issued for all of Chatham County this morning, beginning at 8 a.m.,” Chatham County commissioner chairman, Chester Ellis said at an afternoon press conference on Tuesday. “This allows us to work across governmental lines and to support each other.” Ahead of the storm, Kemp said there are boots on the ground waiting to assist if needed after the storm. He said that he is also working with the Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement to monitor the roadways after Florida’s mass evacuation. ‘This was the closest place we could find’: Floridians seek refuge in Coastal Georgia “There was a run on fuel in Florida as people were evacuating,” Kemp said. “A lot of those people are getting to our state and having to refuel.  So, we're just monitoring with all our partners in the fuel business." Statewide, he said there are about 50,000 people without power following Hurricane Helene. He told News 3 Georgia Power has had to replace over 8,000 poles. Although officials don't expect conditions to get as bad as they did during the previous storm, Dennis Jones, CEMA director said people should still be weather aware. “The wind field or the wind rings are actually expanding,” Jones said. “So, as it gets closer to Florida, it's growing in size. But we’re still in a tropical storm warning because those wind fields are expected to grow exponentially. We're going to watch those throughout the afternoon." County officials said to get ahead of the game, start tying your belongings down and remove objects that are outside of your home that may become projectiles in a high wind. They suggest you start preparing for possible power outages and have an emergency kit on hand. “We want to overprepare and hope the storm, for us, at least under delivers,” Kemp said.