George County leaders hurry to finish storm shelters - WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

George County's new storm shelters still aren't ready to open. But leaders are rushing to get two buildings open by the peak of this Hurricane season.

When Board of Supervisors President Kelly Wright heard tropical storm Debby had formed in the Gulf, he said one thing popped in his mind. 

"Well, our shelters are not going to be ready," Wright said.

Contractors have been moving fast to finish two $1.6 million FEMA shelters in the Agricola and Benndale communities. But Wright said a steady stream of bad weather has delayed progress. 

"Rain days pushed them out, so we are behind schedule," said Wright.

Both shelters won't be ready until August, but officials don't want residents to worry because there are five shelters ready to open if a storm blows this way. 

"There are two here in town, one in central, one in Rocky Creek, and one Benndale," said Wright.

Emergency Management Director Lorraine Howell said once the shelters are finally up and opened, they will be strong, sturdy and large enough for 300 people to hunker down. 

"You are going to have people out there who live in mobile homes and stuff and you want them to get out of them, so you have to prepare a place for them to go," Howell said.  

Although George County is not a considered a coastal county. Howell points out that residents still deal with lots of weather headaches. 

"If it is a very wet storm, we deal with flooding of creeks, or low lying areas, or whatever it might be, and then tornados,"  Howell said.

With five months in the hurricane season to go, George County leaders said the sooner the shelters are ready the better. 

Wright said the Agricola community was chosen as one of the shelter sites because it was the only area in the county without an approved shelter.

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