How Houston County was impacted by Hurricane Helene

UPDATE: The web version of this article has been updated to include comments from Houston County Emergency Management Agency Director Christopher Stoner.

HOUSTON COUNTY — Hurricane Helene made landfall last Thursday night as a category 4 hurricane, according to the National Weather Service, headed straight for Houston County overnight. 

In response, the Houston County Emergency Management Agency activated its emergency operation center Thursday night and provided updates to the public as Hurricane Helene traveled through.

Throughout the night, heavy rain battered Houston County and winds gusted up to 30 mph, HEMA said on social media. Overall, Helene brought seven inches of rain to the area.

Helene traveled east of Houston County, the eye of the storm passing near McRae, Soperton and Dublin. HEMA Director Christopher Stoner said the agency was expecting a direct hit to the area, based on National Hurricane Center guidance.

“When it was progressing through Georgia, it took a significantly more eastward track than what the model guidance and National Hurricane Center had put out as their official track. Even up through after landfall, they were still predicting it to track almost directly up I-75 and as it entered South Georgia, it continued tracking northeast and followed that line from Valdosta up towards Dublin, and out that way,” Stoner explained.

Throughout the night, HEMA announced several downed trees and powerlines. Overall, HEMA listed 27 instances of downed trees and three power lines down.

HEMA reported broken traffic signals at Highway 247 and Watson Boulevard as well as N. Highway 341 and Perry Parkway. Additionally, HEMA reported flooding at Brantley in Centerville.

Flint Energies’ online map showed outages in Perry and Warner Robins, saying 321 customers lost power.

HEMA coordinated response efforts with local agencies to mitigate any problems caused by the storm, Stoner said.

“Fire departments and law enforcement and public works agencies for each of the municipalities went out and had a very coordinated response and pretty quickly was able to remove a lot of the trees from the roadways and get things cleared and back open. The few areas that were entangled in power lines, we coordinated with Flint and Georgia Power to have them respond and remove the power hazard so that the trees could be cleared the rest of the way,” Stoner said.

The city of Warner Robins also gave updates throughout the night as Hurricane Helene hit the area. The city declared a local state of emergency Thursday and gave away sandbags at the Public Works Department.

The cities of Perry and Centerville also declared a local state of emergency Thursday. All three municipalities, as well as Houston County, closed non-essential offices Friday due to the weather. 

Finally, two places that typically stay open during storms announced closures ahead of the hurricane. Houston County School District announced on social media schools would be closed on Friday, and Waffle House closed all of their Warner Robins locations Thursday night.

HEMA announced at 9 a.m. Friday the EOC would be standing down. In light of the storm, Stoner reminded the public that even though Houston County was fortunate, had Helene stayed the course, damage could have been worse. He stressed that in times of emergency, abiding by recomendations from meteorologists and local governments is key for safety.

“Don’t disregard warnings in the future, just because this was an uneventful storm for us. We were very fortunate in that Helene tracked in its own direction and didn’t follow the forecasted path. If you look at the area that it actually did travel through, the forecast strength and intensity was correct. So had that storm actually followed the track that they had predicted, we would be one of those hard hit areas,” Stoner said.

In case of another hurricane, Stoner advised the public to ensure their household has essential supplies to survive a power outage, such as non-perishable foods and proactively take steps to safeguard their home ahead of time.

“Look at the damage that was sustained in other areas of the state and and realize that very easily could have been us here, and identify ways that you can safeguard your home against some of that damage ahead of time,” Stoner said.

More tips to prepare for hurricanes can be found here.