MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Thousands of Florida residents are fleeing the state as Category 4 Hurricane Irma moves closer to making landfall. Several resources are becoming available for them in Alabama.
UPDATES ON IRMA'S PROGRESS
- WSFA 12 News will continue to update Irma's track through our blog.
SHELTERS
With hotels reaching full capacity across the state, several shelters are opening to receive evacuees.
- Alabama State University's Dunn-Oliver Acadome is open as a shelter. It's located at 915 S Jackson Street in Montgomery.
- The Montgomery Raceway Park is also opening its doors to evacuees with mobile homes, race cars, or large equipment to store them at their facility.
- Montgomery, Houston, Covington, and Coffee counties are opening shelters to receive livestock from areas in Irma's path.
- The City of Montgomery's Visitor Center website is being updated with information for Irma evacuees.
The Alabama Tourism Department is also tracking hotel availability for evacuees seeking rooms. Evacuees can call 1-800-Alabama.
Several other counties in Alabama are opening shelters for evacuees:
- Etowah County
- Talladega (the Talladega Superspeedway will be open for evacuees to camp on)
- Blount County
TRAFFIC
- Highway 31 North near Washington Ferry Road in Montgomery is seeing major delays due to FEMA trucks entering the staging area for Hurricane Irma response. Motorists should seek an alternate route.
- Alabama State Troopers have noted an increase in traffic in south Alabama and are monitoring conditions and concentrating patrol operations on main roadways in support of neighboring states' evacuation efforts.
- The City of Dothan in southeast Alabama has issued a traffic advisory as evacuation traffic packs the roadways. The city advises motorists avoid South Oates Street (US 231 S), the west side of Ross Clark Circle (AL 210) and the Montgomery Highway (US 231 N) when possible. Motorists who must use these routes should drive with caution and expect delays. Heavy evacuation traffic is expected to continue through next week.
The City of Dothan also released a statement regarding alleged gas shortages, stating:
We have received information that the gas stations in Dothan, Alabama are out of fuel due to the high number of evacuees from Florida. At this time, we have no reason to believe this is factual. According to City Manager Mike West, "There may be isolated providers that are out of a particular grade of fuel; however, this is not the case at all stores. All hotels in the City are sold out through the weekend but the City of Dothan stands ready to assist those coming from Florida in any way that can."
THINGS TO DO
- Many businesses around Montgomery are offering discounts to Hurricane evacuees. Click this link for a complete list. City officials say the list will continue to be updated as the weekend progresses.
- Landmark Park in Dothan is adding extra activities to its schedule for the influx of evacuees. The park will show educational movies in its interpretive center auditorium and will have a planetarium show every day for the next week at 3:30 p.m. Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for children and free for children two and under. For more information visit their website.
- The Montgomery Biscuits baseball team is offering free game tickets to evacuees for Friday night's game.
- Dale County Schools are showing their support for evacuating families by inviting them to attend a high school football game on Friday, free of charge. The games, which take place at Dale County High School, Ariton High School or GW Long High School, will begin at 7 p.m. Anyone with a Florida ID will be allowed free admittance to the game.
FUELING UP
- You can find the cheapest gas in the Montgomery area on the WSFA Pump Patrol page.
PET HELP
- The Montgomery Humane Society says it will provide shelter to any displaced people's pets. If your pet has a particular type of food it needs, please bring it. Please make sure your pet's microchip contact information is up-to-date. The MCHS is located at 1150 John Overton Drive in Montgomery.
FURTHER ASSISTANCE
Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange advises Irma evacuees to use the zip code 36104 for 211 for service calls. Visitors in Montgomery can also check out this linkfor all of their needs during their stay.
LODGING VACANCIES
Also, check out this list of lodging vacancies within the state, compiled by the Alabama Tourism Department. Department officials say this list will be updated daily until the crisis passes.
