Dougherty Co. EMA prepares for effects from Idalia

ALBANY, Ga. – Several South Georgia counties have declared Tropical Storm and Hurricane Warnings throughout the day Monday.

While Dougherty County isn’t one of them, that hasn’t stopped the local Emergency Management Agency from making moves.

Deputy EMA Director, Rubin Jordan says that as of Monday afternoon, the City of Albany and Dougherty County has re-launched the Emergency Operations Center ahead of Idalia’s landfall in Florida.

“We want to go ahead and get our numbers established for the community that way we’ll have our callers already active and we can keep seamlessly processing and go right on to whatever we need if we should get some impact from the storm,” said Rubin Jordan, Deputy EMA Director, Dougherty Co.

Right now, the National Weather Service has the storm making landfall early Wednesday morning before making its way through Southwest Georgia that afternoon.

“As of right now, we are in a monitoring state. We are continually getting update information from the National Weather Service. And, then we distribute an email out to our emergency support partners and let them know where we’re at and what’s the current forecast,” said Jordan.

But, with the storm just over a day away from making landfall, Jordan wants to make sure that you have supplies ready should the storm shift east and batter Dougherty County.

“Go ahead and make sure you’ve got batteries, flashlights, your normal hurricane kit. All your medications, the things that you need, and necessities should power go out…” said Jordan.

(NOAA)

And, in the release that was sent out by the City of Albany Monday afternoon, the City’s Water Department is asking homeowners to turn off their lawn sprinklers to help with conserving water in the event of a power outage during the storm.

Brian Roche reporting.

Copyright 2023 CBS 44 South Georgia. All rights reserved.