Dougherty County Chairman and City of Albany Mayor Sign State of Emergency Declaration
ALBANY, Ga. – The city of Albany held a press conference today to provide residents with an official update on Hurricane Helene.
Local officials shared the latest weather update, preparedness measures, and emergency resources available to the community in anticipation of the storm.
“We are expecting some showers and thunderstorms this afternoon after 1 p.m., some time between 1 p.m. and 4 or 5 today. To come in upon us tonight, still continuing to possibly see some rain getting on us into Thursday where we are expecting rain to be with us all throughout the day tomorrow as we move into that window of time of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. In which we expect that weather to come through. Friday, of course, we don’t know what we have to see on Friday morning or what’s going to happen. This is going to be an overnight event that is going to affect us here in dougherty county. After we get through that, the good news here is that we get through Thursday and Friday. We are looking for better weather. Saturday and Sunday,” said Chief Cedric Scott, Albany Fire Chief, Dougherty County EMA Director.
Officials provided critical updates, including a flood watch and the expected arrival of hurricane-force winds between 5 and 6pm on Thursday. Wind speeds are forecasted to range from 65 to 86 miles per hour, with gusts possibly exceeding 100 miles per hour.
“We have additional crews on standby. We’ve already got our disaster plan and everything implemented. We have learned a lot from previous storms. At this point, all ambulances are in good shape. We’re also in communication with our state regional EMS director that if we need additional resources, those will be requested through the EOC and additional ambulances can be supplied to us as needed,” said Sam Allen, Dougherty County EMS Director.
With the storm expected to affect the area for a 12-hour period, the city of Albany is coordinating pre- and post-storm shelter plans. These efforts are being organized in collaboration with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) and the James H. Gray Civic Center.
“We want to assure the community that the city is taking every precaution to minimize the impact that this weather event will have on our community. By that, I mean Albany Utilities is ramping up and we know there are going to be some localized outages when power lines are down. The Public Works Department has already been preparing for they have been cleaning up storm drains and catch basins. We’re testing out pump stations to make sure they’re in good working order. Others need to buy supplies because you might be in a neighborhood where there is a power outage for some hours, for some extended period of time,” said Mayor Bo Dorough, City of Albany.
The city of Albany is dedicated to ensuring that residents have access to adequate facilities and resources available during and after the storm.
“Code Red is something that you as a citizen, a resident, can utilize. You can go on the website of the city of Albany, Georgia. Go under the fire department, and sign up that way via the online. Or you can call (229) 4313262. That’s 413262 to sign up the Code Red and it will send you messages about changes in weather and keep you informed. If you have questions involving storm related issues, would like for you to call the Emergency Operations Center. Those phones are being staffed. And, they can be reached at 302-1900. That’s 229-302-1900,” said Chief Scott.
On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, just before 12:30 p.m., Dougherty County Chairman Lorenzo Heard and Albany Mayor Bo Dorough signed off to declare a State of Emergency for the area.
The signing happened immediately following a press conference hosted by Dougherty County EMA Director and Albany Fire Chief Cedric Scott on the weather outlook ahead of Helene making landfall.
To watch the press conference, click here or visit albanyga.gov/meetings
De’Andra Jacobs reporting.
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