Storms may push evacuees into Georgia

Emergency officials in Georgia are preparing for a possible flood of people trying to escape a pair of tropical cyclones, even as the state is still recovering from local damage caused by Tropical Storm Fay’s tornadoes and rains.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency said Friday that some residents of New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities could seek shelter in Georgia should Hurricane Gustav threaten the region.

A mandatory evacuation from New Orleans is possible, and some residents may make it to Georgia on their own, GEMA spokesman Buzz Weiss said.

“We do know we’re going to have some evacuees coming into the state and we’ll accommodate them,” Weiss said. “But at this time, we do not anticipate receiving anybody from any organized evacuation activities.”

At the same time, GEMA is tracking Tropical Storm Hanna in the Atlantic. Georgia will also be the refuge for people fleeing Florida, should Hanna take an unexpected course and hit that state’s eastern coastline.

While there is no active planning for Hanna-related evacuations, GEMA, the Georgia Department of Human Resources and the Red Cross have identified shelters along I-20 and I-85 should people running from Gustav head toward Atlanta. The state can temporarily house as many as 2,500 in schools and other public buildings.

“We don’t know how many people are coming so it’s going to be a moving target,” Weiss said.

Meanwhile, there was an evacuation of pets from the New Orleans area on Friday.

One of the problems three years ago when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans was some people refused to leave because they couldn’t take their pets to shelters. Other dogs and cats were abandoned to survive on their own.

This time around, the Atlanta Humane Society is offering an alternative by taking 115 dogs and cats from the East Lake Animal Shelter in the New Orleans area’s Jefferson Parish. The Atlanta shelter on Howell Mill Road will try to find new homes for those animals.

Richard Rice, spokesman for the Atlanta Humane Society, said some animals could be placed immediately in new homes if they are up-to-date on shots and spayed or neutered.

“We’re making some room [for the additional animals] and asking people to come in and adopt some [Humane] Society pets,” Rice said.