Centennial Center opens doors to hurricane victims
With hurricane season in full force, GCSU is partnering with the Red Cross to designate Centennial Center as a hurricane shelter.
This hurricane season has been very threatening to the Gulf Coast states. Along with Hurricane Ike, there have been five tropical storms in the past month, with three maturing into categorized hurricanes.
When a hurricane threatens large areas, the Red Cross contacts Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency and asks the county to designate shelters for evacuees.
Centennial Center was also designated as a hurricane shelter back in 1999 during Hurricane Floyd. It is able to accommodate approximately 1,079 people, making it a safe place for hurricane victims to evacuate to if necessary.
The decision to make Centennial Center a shelter came about after a thorough inspection. Officials had to consider the number of important assets such as how many toilets, sinks, showers and simply the amount of space available for people to safely reside.
Justin Gaines, Coordinator of Environmental Health and Occupational Safety, is working very hard to make sure that everything will run smoothly should Centennial Center become a place of refuge. This has required him to consider every little detail including food and transportation.
“I began planning resources for the possible opening of the Centennial Center,” said Gaines. “At the time, resources such as food and transportation were unknown and so Kyle Cullars and Neal Seigler agreed to help facilitate the food needs through SODEXO. Greg Brown also agreed to use resources for transporting evacuees from the Centennial Center to central campus.”
Along with Centennial Center, there are four other designated shelters in Baldwin County and people are really stepping up to help those in need.
Kristen Petersen works at the Antebellum Inn and knows of people already taking caution and making evacuation plans just in case the hurricane should come their way.
“We have had people calling up to the inn asking about availability should they have to evacuate their home in Savannah,” said Petersen. “It makes me feel really good that our community is doing our part to help the people who could possibly lose everything from these hurricanes.”
In this severe time of need, Baldwin County is really helping out. Having five designated shelters, and volunteers, shows how much the community cares. If needed the Centennial Center may be where some have to call “home” after the destruction of Hurricane Ike is measured.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Sep 19 2008. Filed under News.
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