Hurricane shelter moved to Civic Center as more evacuees expected to arrive

A shelter to house evacuees from Hurricane Irma has been moved from Frank D. Chester Recreation Center to the Columbus Civic Center as the Red Cross looks at receiving far more people needing temporary housing than previously expected.

“We are expecting a lot of people. It’s hard to tell exactly how many, because we have other shelters opening as we move along the route,” said Adelaide Kirk, executive director of the Red Cross of West Central Georgia. “We also have shelters opening in Dublin today. We are expecting a bus of people from Glynn County.”

Kirk said she hoped to have the shelter open and ready by lunchtime Friday. It can hold about 500 people, up from the 220 people that could be housed at Frank Chester.

“We are initially opening with only a few hundred cots because we have exhausted our current supply. We are waiting on a resupply, but it could take awhile.”

Red Cross staff will provide shelter, food and other necessities to evacuees fleeing Hurricane Irma, which is expected to strike Florida Sunday and move into Georgia early next week. Governor Nathan Deal warned at a press conference Friday that the storm could be worse than the catastrophic Hurricane Andrew from 1992.

The shelter is not intended to house local residents, Kirk said.

“Our people aren’t evacuating, these are people who are coming and have no idea where to go. These people don’t have anywhere else to go.”

People seeking shelter can call the Red Cross at 706-323-5614 or simply show up at the shelter. A list of other open shelters can be found at RedCross.org to see all active shelters in the state. “There will be 31 active shelters across Georgia that will be opening Friday or Saturday morning,” Kirk said.

If the Civic Center shelter fills up, there are three other buildings that can be converted into backup shelters, including Frank D. Chester and two others.

“Those are all on standby. We had those plans in place before the hurricane was ever thought about,” Kirk said.

This story was originally published September 8, 2017 at 10:56 AM with the headline "Hurricane shelter moved to Civic Center as more evacuees expected to arrive."