County prepares for hurricane threat

By Staff
Melissa Cason
It's been three years since Gulf Coast has had a major hurricane. While meteorologists are still unsure of the path Hurricane Gustav will take, Franklin County Emergency Management Agency Director Roy Gober said the state and Franklin County is watching the storm's progression.
"We know it's going to make landfall and it's going to be a mess," Gober said. "But, we still don't know where it's going to hit and how hard."
Gober said Franklin County won't begin making preparations until the storm makes landfall, and those preparations will be based on predictions from the National Hurricane Center.
"Since they are not sure where the storm is going to land, we can't begin to prepare, but when the storm gets closer to land, we'll be able to predict our weather in Franklin County," Gober said.
If the storm lands in Mississippi or Louisiana as anticipated, Gober said Franklin County will get heavy rain, straight-line winds, and possibly tornadoes from the storm.
"The greatest threat is tornadoes, and we will be monitoring conditions very closely," Gober said.
Regardless of where the storm lands, Gober said Alabama is prepared to handle the outcome.
"Alabama's a lot better prepared than Louisiana was in 2005," Gober said.
One of the preparations Alabama has made since catastrophic storm Katrina is create shelters for evacuees.
"Since Katrina, Alabama has designed every junior college in the state as a shelter for evacuees," Gober said.
He said he doesn't anticipate a massive number in Franklin County because most will stay close to Interstate 65.
While state and local EMA officials are getting ready, local hotels are starting to get bookings from residents of south Alabama trying to get ahead of the storm.
Russellville Hotel and Suites said they have one couple check in Friday.
"The couple said they were trying to beat the weather, and will monitor the conditions from here," Donna Mitchell, front desk clerk, said.
Mitchell said the hotel has good availability for next week.
Greenwood Inn Manager Windy Nelson said the hotel has received several phone calls on rates from people who might be affect by the hurricane threat, and they have at least five bookings related to the weather.
"We have good availability but we could book up pretty fast," Nelson said.