``A lot depends on where the storm finally makes landfall,''
-- Pam Tucker, Richmond County Emergency Management Agency executive director.
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Emergency management officials also made plans to evacuate some local flood-prone areas and clear mobile home parks, if needed
By Wayne Partridge
Meanwhile, emergency management officials made plans to evacuate some local flood-prone areas and clear mobile home parks in case Fran impacts our area.
``A lot depends on where the storm finally makes landfall,'' said Pam Tucker, Richmond County Emergency Management Agency executive director. ``Right now, we're concentrating on taking care of people who are coming our way from the coast, but we could be in trouble ourselves if (the storm) turns the right way.''
Forecasters expect the hurricane to make landfall somewhere between Charleston and Wilmington, N.C., between midnight and 2 a.m. Friday, he said.
``A good bet would be Georgetown or Myrtle Beach,'' he said. ``Since most of the really nasty weather is on the north and east side, we should see some gusty winds and maybe some heavy downpours, but nothing too bad. If it comes in between Savannah and Charleston, it would be a different story.''
More than a dozen local hotels reported being full for the next few days. Although officials had not opened any shelters in Richmond County, Aiken County shelters were slowly filling with people forced from their homes by a mandatory evacuation of the South Carolina coast.
Richmond County officials had designated - but not opened - Hephzibah High School as a shelter for evacuees fleeing Effingham County, which is just north of Savannah and 15 miles from the coast. Other shelters will be opened if low-lying areas and mobile homes are threatened, officials said.
In Columbia County, Pat Tiedeman, director of the county's emergency management agency, said residents in flood-prone neighborhoods like West Lake and Forest Creek should be ready for flooding.
Savannah-area evacuees began arriving early Wednesday morning, with patients from Savannah hospitals transported to beds at Medical College of Georgia Hospital. More were expected to arrive todays.
Lynn Lampmancq, who left early from a Hilton Head Island vacation, was one of the people who had made reservations for Aiken's Holley Inn by 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
``I'm worried that my parents' home won't be there when they get back,'' Ms. Lampman said.
Because of the path the storm is taking, forecasters expect South Carolina to bear the brunt of the damage.
Barnwell and Allendale counties, which forecasters say could fall in the direct path of the storm, decided to close all county schools todays. Only administrators will be in school offices.
Other area schools will be open today, but could be closed Friday, officials said.
Forty-five Red Cross shelters were opened in nine South Carolina counties, including one at Millbrook Baptist Church in Aiken and Guinyardcq Butler Middle School in Barnwell, to provide shelter for evacuees.
The city of Aiken has opened up 600 stables at the Aiken Mile Track for horses and large animals being evacuated from the coast. Some smaller animals are also being housed at the track.
Police and local emergency officials were also put on standby late Wednesday in Aiken, Allendale and Barnwell counties in anticipation of the storm.
State officials have asked owners of the estimated 30,000 private dams in South Carolina to open the dams' gates now so the ponds can hold imminent rainwater and prevent widespread flooding.
In Augusta, a lower-than-normal Savannah River was one of the few signs on a sunny Wednesday that the Augusta area was preparing for a major hurricane.
Anticipating as much as 10 inches of rainfall todays from the approaching hurricane, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened the gates on its power-generating dams and let the river sink several feet in the Augusta area.
``We have storage in all three lakes (along the Savannah River) to store potential flood waters from the storm,'' corps spokesman Jim Parker said.
Otherwise, local emergency management officials postponed most visible action while they waited to see where Fran would visit.
Staff writers Michael Cass, Chad Bray, Chandra McLean, Brian Neill, Gregory Patterson and Kathy Steele contributed to this story.
Preparing for the hurricane:
- Stock up on water, non-perishable food, first-aid supplies, a fire extinguisher, battery-powered radio, flashlight and extra batteries. Avoid using candles, which can cause a fire at the very time fire fighters are at their busiest rescuing flood victims.
- Store water in sanitized bathtubs, sinks and other containers. If the storm's high winds knock out electricity, water flow could stop. Another concern is that the water supply could become contaminated by flood waters.
- Stow outdoor objects, like garden tools, outdoor furniture and plants, so they don't become missiles during high winds.
- Keep the car fueled. Gasoline stations might not be operable for a few days because of power outages and safety concerns.
- Residents in flood prone areas should transfer as much of their belongings to higher ground, and head to a shelter. Otherwise, don't leave your house unless there's an emergency.
Sources: FEMA, Richmond County Emergency Management Agency
@ugusta Hurricane Tracker
Preparing for a hurricane
Staff Writer
Evacuees from coastal Georgia and South Carolina began filling Augusta-area hotels and shelters Wednesday, hoping to escape the wrath of Hurricane Fran.
Fran seemed to be following projections Wednesday night that put the hurricane on course for the coastline of South Carolina, which would leave Augusta facing little more than a stormy, gusty afternoon, said meteorologist Bob Smith of WRDW-TV.
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