City Wide Storm Recovery Update

Sandra Stokes Walden

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Posted by: Sandra Walden
Date: Apr 27 2015 11:10 PM

CITY WIDE STORM RECOVERY UPDATE: A FEW IDEAS TO KEEP IN MIND (10:30PM)

Keeping Our Eyes on a Developing Storm: Chief Larry Williams has confirmed that they are keeping a close eye on another developing storm. More information will be provided as it is available.

Looting During Power Outage: Police Chief Steve Parrish has accessed which areas will need additional police surveillance throughout the evening, and officers are being assigned to those areas as needed. In regards to this concern, it is confirmed that at least one arrest has been made.

Power Outage Progress: Dothan Utilities Director Billy Mayes believes that upwards of 18,000 Dothan Utilities customers were originally without power. As of today at 3:00PM (less that 48 hours later), that number was estimated to be around 2,000.

Utility Crews are Working Around the Clock: Mayes has confirmed that utility crews are working in shifts to ensure that work continues "around the clock" 24 hours a day. Crew members are working long hours and taking 6-7 hour breaks before reporting to work again. "Runners" are bringing food and water to those crews so that they can remain on-site.

Citizens Seeking Food, Water, Place to Shower: The Salvation Army will continue to provide ice, water, gatorade, and food at Wiregrass Park for the next 2 days (Tuesday and Wednesday). Lunch at 12:30pm and dinner at 5:00pm. The center is also open for citizens needing to take a shower.

School Cancellations: Dothan City Schools will be closed on Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Fire Safety During Power Outage: Chief Williams has confirmed that 3 fires have occurred during the power outage as power was being restored. He would like to remind citizens that appliances such as stoves that were on when the outage occurred, now need to be turned off to avoid a potential fire hazard when power is restored to the home. If your power is off now and it has been off for 48 hours, we recommend that you go to your breaker box and shut your power off until power is restored. Once power is restored, this will eliminate the possibility of an appliance unexpectedly turning on while a citizen is not home.

Be Cautious of People Offering "Tree Cutting" Assistance : Please be sure that anyone you allow to assist you with tree cutting services is insured / bonded. Within the city limits of Dothan, these individuals should have a business license.

Sign-Up to Be a Volunteer: EMA Director Steve Carlisle would like to urge those seeking to volunteer with power restoration efforts to please call the EMA Office at (334) 794-9720.

Quote for the Day: To summarize a statement from Chief Williams today...."In my 33 years of experience, this is the most damage that I have ever seen occur in the City of Dothan. A disaster occurs when an attempt to control or correct an event results in an exhaustion of available resources. The bad news – Dothan is experiencing a disaster. The good news – we CAN and we WILL handle it!

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