Vacationers had no choice but to start fleeing Thursday morning after Gov. Nathan Deal ordered a mandatory evacuation along the Georgia coast.
But even with the threat of torrential rainfall and strong winds from a powerful Hurricane Matthew that could cause widespread damage along low-lying areas, some visitors resisted.
“Several guests called to cancel on their own. … But there was one couple that didn’t understand how serious this is. They were from Tennessee,” said Jan Chamberlain, owner of Blue Heron Inn Bed and Breakfast on Sapelo Island.
In fact, she had to cancel their reservations on the couple’s behalf.
All five rooms at the bed and breakfast were booked for three nights.
Chamberlain talked about how this affects her small business. “We’ve lost two holidays this year. First, it was Labor Day with Hermine. This time, it’s Columbus Day. … I’ve even lost reservations for next weekend. We had people coming from California,” said Chamberlain, who headed to North Georgia to stay with her mother.
Early Thursday, Deal ordered the mandatory evacuation of people in six coastal Georgia counties living east of I-95 as Hurricane Matthew charted a course toward the Atlantic coast. The six coastal counties are Bryan, Chatham, Liberty, McIntosh, Glynn and Camden.
Georgia has not had a direct hit from a hurricane in more than a century. Coastal Georgia could get winds up to 70 mph, structural damage and widespread power outages.
David Shephard, general manager of the Holiday Inn Resort at Jekyll Island, said guests had been monitoring the weather updates for days and either canceled or left early. On Thursday morning, about 15 guests still at the hotel left, all gone by 9:30 a.m. Shephard, meanwhile, booked a room at a hotel about 10 miles inland.
As he left the island around noon, the skies were cloudy gray with misty rains, and the winds started to pick up, he said.
“They were monitoring the weather and we were in correspondence with all of them. … Some were going home, some were going inland two or three hours. All different. But they had a plan, which was the most important,” said Shephard.
Shephard said he hopes he and staff can return to the hotel Saturday night but will monitor the situation.
Georgia's Tourism Bureau launched a website (www.exploregeorgia.org/hurricane-matthew-travel-information) with information on evacuation routes, shelters, lodging vacancies and more. Availability at lodging and shelters will be updated every two hours from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
As of Thursday afternoon, there were few if any lodging options south of Macon. The Georgia Tourism Bureau is encouraging visitors to head to the North Georgia mountain area, and away from major interstates. Lodging is quickly becoming extremely limited across the state, including areas south of Atlanta.
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