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Coastal
Georgia – June 1st marked the beginning of another
Hurricane season and new concerns for officials and firefighters
along and near Georgia’s coast.
Glynn County officials have been holding Hurricane
Preparedness meetings with stern warnings.
“Leave early and leave west before roads clog up” is
the advice Glynn County Fire Chief Carl Johnson is giving local
citizens. “If a
hurricane hits and you don’t leave, there’s no guarantee
you’ll live to tell about it” he suggested.
There have been five meetings held around Glynn County
for local residents within the first 3 weeks of the season.
This
year there is a 55% chance of a major hurricane hitting the
Eastern Seaboard according the national weather center.
In the 1800’s there were four major hurricanes hitting
the Golden Isles of Georgia. One storm reportedly killed more than 500 in 1823.
In
the early 1960’s Hurricane Dora made landfall in North Florida
but caused over two blocks of beachfront homes to disappear into
the ocean on St. Simons Island, Georgia.
What is now the Johnson rocks sits along the beach to
prevent further erosion.
In
2001, Glynn County abolished the Emergency Management Agency’s
director’s job and placed the responsibility on the head of
the Glynn County Police Chief and a committee composed of Glynn
County’s Personnel Director, Fire Chief, and a small group of
other County employees. In
May the Glynn County Police Chief announced his plans for
retirement at the end of June.
It is unclear at this time whom will lead in taking over
those important duties.
Of
major concern to Glynn County Fire Chief, Carl Johnson and
others is the low-lying Barrier Islands, which are particularly
vulnerable to storm, surge flooding if a hurricane stuck the
area. In 1898,
people who survived the hurricane were found standing on tables
because all of the islands were covered with water. (Only a few
hundred people lived on the islands then)
There are now over 17,000 who live on St. Simons.
Most of the Golden Isles is located in the flood plain.
That means that most hurricanes will send waters flooding
over much of the area.
 Usually
the weather service knows 12 hours in advance where a hurricane
will land. Three
of Georgia’s five barrier islands whose only land access is by
low-lying causeways are in Glynn County.
There is only one route to Jekyll Island, St. Simons
Island, and Sea Island Georgia.
Even now, during some high tides part of the causeway
leading to St. Simons Island and Sea Island may be partially
covered with seawater. If
a Hurricane is nearing Georgia’s coast and it is high
tide, then the winds could easily cut off the island residents
from evacuation. To
make matters worst after Hurricane Floyd’s near miss and
having to cope with the many traffic jams leaving Coastal
Georgia, many vowed never to evacuate and face traffic like
that. (Some cars
reportedly could not move 15 miles in 2 hours because the
massive traffic exiting Florida and Coastal Georgia) Local residents as well as other coastal residents in
Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina are being urged to not go
north or south, which jammed up coastal highways during Floyd
but to head west. “If
you leave within one or two hours of a voluntary evacuation, you
should not have a problem with traffic, says Fire Chief Richard
Caton of the Jekyll Island Fire Department.”
“If you wait until a mandatory evacuation is called,
there is a possibility you’ll be caught in bumper to bumper
traffic for hours,” he continues.
Hurricane
winds could easily reach up to 150 miles per hour.
That could mean a Hurricane of several hundred miles in
diameter. A trip
over two hundred miles from the coast would then be the safest
bet for coastal residents.
If there is a forced evacuation in Glynn County, then
Glynn County Firefighters, families, and other required
employees would evacuate their apparatus and equipment to
Waycross, Georgia some sixty miles away.
“On
the return after a hurricane expect lengthy power outages, with
first priority for restoration going to police, fire stations,
and hospitals,” according to Chief Johnson.
Water could become contaminated and unusable because of
breaks in the water and sewer lines.
Traditionally,
most hurricanes hitting the U.S. mainland occur in August and
September. The
Hurricane season will continue until November 15.
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