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Local officials prepared for storm
Published Saturday, August 30, 2008
NATCHEZ — Stan Owens is feeling much better about Hurricane Gustav.
Not that the threat has dissipated, but now Owens, Adams County EMA director, knows local leaders and county and city officials are ready for what may come.
In a civil defense meeting Friday morning, Owens was briefed by approximately 50 or 60 people.
Entergy Customer Service Manager Stephen Caruthers said Monday is no longer a holiday at Entergy.
“All our guys are available,” he said.
If anything were to happen to power, he assured it would be handled quickly.
“We will restore power as quickly and as safely as we can,” Caruthers said.
Public Works Director Eric Smith said emergency fuel has been ordered and his crews are ready to clear roadways if necessary.
“All our crews will be on call as of midnight Sunday,” Smith said.
Angie Brown, chapter manager for the Adams County chapter of Red Cross, said all of the shelters are on standby.
Owens said the tentative plan is to open the first shelter — Parkway Baptist Church — 24 hours before landfall, which is expected either Monday night or Tuesday night.
He said that is subject to change, however.
Marsha Colson, executive director of the United Way said her agency is in charge of dispersing volunteers and are looking for more.
Brown said there will be a shelter operations class today at 9 a.m. to train volunteers.
She said volunteers will be trained in all aspects of setting up and running a shelter.
“We’ve had a lot of interest in the class, a lot of phone calls,” she said.
The class will be at the firing range on Foster Mound Road.
Vice President and General Manager of the Isle of Capri Tony Scudiero said if his casino closes because of weather, he’ll send his employees out to shelters to help.
Natchez Regional Medical Center representatives shared with the crowd that they have been preparing extra beds and ordering extra supplies.
Natchez Community Hospital CEO Tim Trottier said his hospital is ready and can run on a backup generator for up to seven days.
Sheriff Ronny Brown and Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said both law enforcement agencies will be working together.
The Adams County Board of Supervisors declared the county a state of emergency.
Supervisor Darryl Grennell said when Gov. Haley Barbour declared Mississippi a state of emergency, it empowered local officials to take security steps outside the realm of normal duties.
“It widens the parameters in what we can do,” he said.
Officials are allowed to enter private property to help anyone in duress. The sheriff has authority to declare a mandatory evacuation for those in unsafe dwellings and to set a curfew.
“The overall mission is to be able to help people if we’re impacted by the storm,” Grennell said.
And there will be an impact, said Meteorologist Christopher Bannan with the National Weather Service in Jackson.
He said if Hurricane Gustav continues on its projected path, Adams County will see strong winds and heavy rainfall.
“The center of the storm won’t be too far from Adams County,” he said.
Sustained winds will move between 35 and 50 miles per hour with gusts possibly reaching 70 miles per hour at times.
Bannan said with the current projected path, the county will be in the northeast quadrant of the storm, which will bring strong winds.
“Adams County is at the greater risk of seeing strong damaging winds and gusts that may approach hurricane force at times,” he said.
He said tornados are a large threat, as well.
Owens said in preparation for strong winds and tornados, residents should pick up lawn furniture and other items outdoors, like propane tanks.
“Simple items like that can become missiles,” he said.
In case of a tornado, he said the center of a home is the safest place. Outdoors, low lying ditches are the best place to be.
He also said to stay away from plumbing.
“Lightning strikes have been known to go through plumbing pipes,” he said.
Comments
Posted by oldshool (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 1:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
They so busy worried bout this storm they need to be worried bout trying to catch the dude who drove away from 12 gas stations without paying for gas.I just wanna be prepaired so if the storm do come,i wouldn't have to sit in nobody long gas line.People are going crazy round here like when they said the world was coming to an end,crazy people.Ya'll alright with me until ya;ll go to passback and buy all them garlic sausages up,then we'll have a problem.
Posted by joker980 (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 7:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I applaud the city of natchez for being two steps ahead of the storm. We have been spared so many times before but if this thing tracks the way it is predicted this city will see some downed trees and flooded roads like never before. So its better to be ahead and look crazy then to be behind and left out in my opinion....Oldschool that sounds to me like a confession thats just my opinion.
I really hope the people of adams county understand this storms severity. Katrina was bad from what I hear. But even then Adams County only got the left side of her. Gustav will be bad. But we are forcasted to get the right side of him,which is the worst of the storm.
I pray for all of us, and pray that those who need shelter or assistance will ask for it and not worry about how it makes them look to others. That in itself may save your life. I dont fear any man. But the power of God makes me shake in my shoes.
Posted by huggybear1156 (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 7:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
ATTABOY STAN ! I'm proud that one of my old Morgantown buddies is helping to take care of the ol' hometown. Keep up the good work, and best wishes from N'East Texas. Keep 'em safe down there !
Posted by realdeal1150 (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 8:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You are so right Joker and Huggybear. It's great to see folks we went to school with doing a job to help protect each and everyone of us. Joker you are so right about us being on the bad side. This is a killer storm like Katrina and anything can happen. I don't think people are going crazy but just remembering what happened after Katrina and how bad things really got with no power and the run on fuel. Crazy would be not doing anything to prepare for whatever might come. I applaude our local Emergency officials for trying to protect us and our families. On the West side of the river we also are preparing for whatever comes as best we can. Please remember to be careful if you decide to store large amounts of gasoline or transport it somewhere. Last time we saw numerous people hauling giant plastic containers in the back of pickup trucks with no tops or else the entire rear bed loaded with plastic cans full of fuel and that would make a heck of a bomb in case of a wreck. The main thing is to prepare today for what might come. May God bless and protect all of us during this time.
Posted by ntzmom (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 8:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes, things are looking worse than I first thought.
Everyone, I pray we all stay safe.
Posted by rose18 (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 8:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
oldschool you have to be kidding who is worried about gas you need to worry about your family first of all you get what you need now not when it hits.
Posted by guy2co (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 8:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think Stan Owens has got everything planned out. I've worked with him for years and I can tell you he is the man for the job. People need to be prepared, but don't panick. People have been fighting over water at walmart, and there's water stacked up at walgreens. Just be smart and everything will be ok. You shoud have enough food, water, and batteries to last 72 hours. That does not mean you need to buy everything in the store.
Posted by guy2co (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 9:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Everybody needs to rember to be safe too. DO NOT USE GENERATORS INDOORS! DO NOT STORE EXTRA GAS IN A CLOSET OR CLOSED IN SPACE, like where a hot water heater is. The pilot on the hot water heater can ignite the gas fumes. DO NOT GO AROUND DOWNED POWER LINES! People just be careful, the main thing we need to fear is ourselves, usually there is more harm from what we do than from the storms.
Posted by andy (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 9:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
LOOKS LIKE WE ARE ON COURSE HERE LESSONS WERE LEARNED EVERYWHERE,now lets just hope we do not get the bad people like houston did last time come on sheriff brown stop the buses if they come to this area
Posted by ponylover22 (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 9:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes, everyone needs to be prepared. We have been lucky in this area and have not had the really bad effects like other areas have had but that doesn't mean that we won't.
When Katrina came, I was in Hattiesburg, Ms which is not on the coast but it was a huge mess! Everyone over there was totally un-prepared for it because they haven't had to deal with anything that bad before either (except for Camille but it wasn't as bad as Katrina). Power was out for 18 days in some areas in Hattiesburg. There wasn't any gas, water or food anywhere for days because of all of the downed power lines and trees. When stores were able to finally open up they had to limit the number of people going into the store at a time. You waited in lines all day to just to get necessities. There was no phone or cell phone service for weeks, hotels were booked for miles and miles you would have to have a full tank to drive far enough to get to a hotel and then you would probably have to stop and re-fuel before you got there. Since there was no power, you couldn't get your money out of the banks: ATM machines did not work. When stores did open up you couldn't pay with a credit or debit card because those machines did not work.
So yes, be prepared but don't go crazy. Have a generator to run necessities only. Have a full tank of gas and have water and food.
This storm is no Katrina but the mess I saw while I was in Hattiesburg was no joke and something I would never want to go through again. It was also no cat. 5 by the time it did reach Hattiesburg and did not cause near as much damage as on the coast and in N.O. but what it did was cause major chaos and no one was prepared for that part!
Posted by luzichick (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 11:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Here's a website that will allow you to see an animation of the path the hurricane is expected to take.
https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/wxmap_cgi/cgi...
When you go to the site, you may get a security certificate error. Since it's a site run by the Navy, it's probably just a glitch and not a real security issue, so I just continue to the site and have had no problems.
Posted by scrapmom (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 4:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hi Huggybear ! How are u doing up in N'East Texas? We are fine in N'East La. . Those were the days in old Morgantown. Stan is take care of our hometown. Call us sometimes, when you going to Natchez.. Ernie and Tom
Posted by picture_music101 (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 7:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Governor Bobby Jindal Closes Schools
Posted: Aug 30, 2008 05:00 PM CDT
Updated: Aug 30, 2008 06:23 PM CDT
BATON ROUGE (KNOE 8 News ) - Saturday afternoon Governor Bobby Jindal issued an order cancelling classes Tuesday and Wednesday in 30 districts.
Here's a list of those parishes.
Avoyelles, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, DeSoto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, Tensas, Union, West Carroll, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, and Winn.
Posted by presby (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 9:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If Gustav stays on it,s present path,anyone who doesn,t have concerns about how bad it can be is for the most part foolish,and that,s on the low side. They might not be wrapped well.
Posted by ntz143 (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 10:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
So what should the Miss-lou expect Sunday- Monday with the weather? I keep hearing about sheltering NO people then Jindal says that central La. will be impacted...areas that are less than 100miles from us- exactly what should we as homeowners/business owners expect? Can we get more undated specific info via this website?
Posted by NoWireHangers (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 11:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Looks like New Orleans is going to be hit severely. Last I heard on www.nola.com(Times-Picayune) is that the tidal surge will be up to 22ft and will flood over the levees so that the water rising will be faster than Katrina; the West Bank will probably get the brunt of the storm due to the erosion of the coastal wetlands from 3 years ago; unfortunately it looks like the French Quarter and those areas that didn't flood in 2003 will be under water; they are predicting 100mile per hour winds in Lafayette and Baton Rouge Monday; weather conditions are supposed to begin deteriorating rapidly Sunday night with a Monday morning arrival of that SOB Gustav
Posted by NoWireHangers (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 11:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080831...
you can read about the west bank levees not being completed
Posted by NoWireHangers (anonymous) on August 30, 2008 at 11:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/...
More Times-Picayune information about West Bank flooding
and storm surge
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