Geography of Glynn County
Glynn County and the City of Brunswick are located in southeast coastal Georgia, at approximately 81 - 30 - 00 north latitude and 31 - 15 - 00 west longitude, or about half-way between Jacksonville, FL. and Savannah, GA. and encompasses 439 square miles.

The northern boundary is the Altamaha River, the southern boundary is the Little Satilla River, the eastern boundary is the Atlantic Ocean. The Turtle River and the South Brunswick River split through the center of the county, almost to the western boundary. Thus a large area of the populated portion of the county borders along coastal marshlands, rivers or streams, resulting in much of the populated areas being in low lying areas ranging from a few feet up to 10 to 14 feet above mean sea level.

The majority of the population, business and industry, is located in the eastern two-thirds of the county, that area east of Georgia Route 99. The area west of Georgia 99 is rural and is primarily forest agriculture with the trees being harvested for the paper industry.

There are four inhabited barrier islands in Glynn County. One, Little St. Simons, only has several permanent residents. The other three, Sea Island, St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island are all heavily populated with permanent residents, in addition to a large tourist population which is at its peak during the summer, but also has a presence year round.

Main Travel Arteries

The main travel arteries are Interstate 95 which bisects the county north to south. US-17 also runs parallel to I-95, north to south. US-82 runs east to west in the southern part of the county, starting at I-95 and running into central Georgia above Macon. State route 32 begins in western Glynn County and runs westward to Dawson, north of Macon.

This presents several problems when evacuations become necessary due to surge caused by hurricanes, or flooding caused by rains in central Georgia with travel southward by the many rivers migrating to southern Georgia.

A Category One hurricane will cause flooding of many of the roads in Glynn County, including some of the primary evacuation routes. A Category Two hurricane will cut every evacuation route in the county. Thus, if someone decides to stay behind and ride out the storm, and the intensity of the storm increases as Hugo did when it approached Charleston, it will be to late to leave. Thus, everyone should leave and leave early to avoid being cut off and stranded. There are several links that address proper planning, evacuation procedures, and destinations. Everyone is encouraged to visit these links and become familiar with their contents.