As Matthew moves closer to Southeast coast, Columbus hotel rooms scarce

As Hurricane Matthew takes direct aim at the Florida, Georgia and Carolina coastline, the Columbus hotel room inventory for this weekend is extremely limited, said Columbus Convention & Visitors Bureau President Peter Bowden.

“We are getting to the point if they come in today, we are going to have a difficult time helping them,” Bowden said Thursday before lunch.

As of Thursday afternoon, fewer than 40 rooms were available in Columbus through Friday night. Bowden predicted the remaining rooms will be gone by the end of the day.

No hotel rooms were available in Phenix City. People seeking rooms are being referred to Auburn, Bowden said.

Columbus has a total of 4,800 rooms in 57 local hotels that are tracked by the Convention & Visitors Bureau. The demand on those rooms was already taxed this weekend because of a variety of events, including the Tuskegee-Morehouse football game on Saturday at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium and the Georgia Bike-fest downtown.

“Almost all of the hotels on the north are sold out today and tomorrow,” Bowden said. “I suspect if you look at Phenix City, it is the same thing.”

Throughout Columbus, “there may be one or two rooms here and 10 at another property.”

Hurricane Matthew, at the time a Category 4 storm with winds nearing 150 miles per hour, was forecast to hit the south Florida Atlantic coast and into this morning. By tonight and into Saturday morning, the hurricane is forecast to be in the Jacksonville area and south Georgia with winds in excess of 125 mph.

Forecasts also call for a high storm surge, and mandatory evacuations are in place along the coastal area from Florida to the Carolinas.

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 11:38 AM with the headline "As Matthew moves closer to Southeast coast, Columbus hotel rooms scarce."