Many take shelter from the storm at Warner Robins City Hall

Warner Robins City Hall was closed for business on Wednesday but was full of people.

Many people took advantage of an offer to come to City Hall to escape threatening weather. At about 2 p.m. more than 60 people, from children to elderly, were sitting around the first floor as thunder rumbled ominously outside.

Mayor Randy Toms welcomed people and let them know that no food was being provided, but they were welcome to stay until the weather had passed.

Among those taking shelter was Harold and Deloris Lyons, who live in a modular home on Leverette Road. They had seen the death and destruction from tornado damage at a mobile home park in south Georgia earlier this year. They were already thinking of finding a place to take shelter when they heard City Hall was open and left immediately.

“A thousand times better, believe me,” Harold Lyons said, when asked how he felt to be at City Hall. “We are blessed to be here.”

All city offices were closed Wednesday due to the weather threat, with only emergency personnel on duty. Toms said he was headed to City Hall on Wednesday morning when he started getting calls from people wondering if there was a storm shelter. He said he decided to open City Hall as a shelter and people had been steadily coming in all day.

“They are just looking for a little better shelter than what they have and that’s what they are getting,” he said.

Upstairs City Hall was also the storm command center. Fire Chief Ross Moulton and others were keeping a close watch on radar and weather reports. They said they were holding out hope the city could miss severe weather.

This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Many take shelter from the storm at Warner Robins City Hall."