Evacuees thankful for safe place to stay

A dire warning from government officials about Hurricane Matthew prompted Michelle Robinson to quickly leave Jacksonville, Florida, late last week.

Robinson and several family members hit the interstate until they arrived in Macon where they sought shelter at East Macon Recreation Center. They were among hundreds of people who found refuge from the deadly hurricane by staying in shelters set up across Middle Georgia.

The 44-year-old was hoping to be able to get back to the Sunshine State early this week, but was just happy to have a safe place to escape the storm. Having moved from the Midwest to Florida, she didn’t know what to expect when reports of the pending storm surfaced, but with the memory of images of Hurricane Katrina she knew it there was a chance it could wreck havoc.

Hurricane Matthew battered coastlines from Florida to Virginia, causing at least 15 deaths and flooding, and leaving more than 2 million people without power.

“I saw the president, governor and mayor begging us to run for our lives so I got worried,” Robinson said Sunday morning at the shelter set up by Macon-Bibb County and the American Red Cross. “I talked to some people that told me it would blow over, told me not to leave, but I could not ignore (the warnings).”

At the peak, Macon’s four shelters had well over 500 people staying in them.

Other shelters also popped up across Georgia in communities like Kathleen and Dublin, and churches rallied to provide water and snacks for evacuees. Even some members of four-legged species and other critters were able to escape the storm by staying at locations such as Fort Valley State University.

And finally on Sunday afternoon, evacuees received some positive news when Gov. Nathan Deal lifted evacuation orders in Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty, and McIntosh. Also, the Georgia Department of Transportation re-opened Interstate 16 eastbound to travel after several days of closure, clearing a major route for many people to travel back home.

While the evacuation orders were removed, DOT urged people to be cautious before returning home as cleanup efforts continue and many people are without utilities. About 400,000 Georgia properties lost power during the hurricane.

The American Red Cross has not made a decision on when to close the shelters, but people staying in Macon shelters were still being encouraged to stay through Sunday night.

“It might be better for some of the residents to go back when it’s daylight,” Macon-Bibb spokesman Chris Floore said. “We’re trying to take care of our (shelter residents’) needs.”

The East Macon facility received a visit Sunday by local government officials and the first lady of Georgia, Sandra Deal, who thanked those who have kept the shelters running. She also spoke with evacuees, providing an update on relief efforts.

Robinson said she was thankful every organization from the American Red Cross to the Salvation Army to the Georgia State Defense Force and Macon-Bibb County for providing a safe place for people to stay.

“I’m really appreciative of everything they have been doing,” she said. “They have saved me a lot of money and worry about where I could stay.”

While forecasts last week showed Macon escaping the brunt of the storm, efforts that included the Macon-Bibb County Department of Public Health and the Bibb County Department of Family and Children Services were made to coordinate having safe places for evacuees to stay, Macon-Bibb County Emergency Management Agency Director Spencer Hawkins.

Macon avoided “a massive wave” of evacuees as more people stopped to stay in shelters in cities such as Dublin, said Floore, who credited manpower from the voluntary Georgia State Defense Force with allowing Macon to open the City Auditorium to remain open until Sunday afternoon.

“Helping with donations, moving cots, intake registration ... they’ve done a great job augmenting our Red Cross volunteers,” he said.

This story was originally published October 9, 2016 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Evacuees thankful for safe place to stay."