Lowndes Co. Emergency Management prepares for Hurricane Delta impact

The Golden Triangle won’t face the brunt of Hurricane Delta but Lowndes County first responders are at the ready in case of severe weather.

“It could start off as a drill but it could end up as a reality,” says Lowndes County Emergency Management Director Cindy Lawrence.

The fallout from Hurricane Delta is expected to reach Lowndes County some time after 2:00 a.m.

“We’re not looking at the hurricane they’re talking about coming to the coast,” Lawrence says. “We’re looking at the wind and the rain.”

Lawrence says the National Weather Service told her to be ready for 30 to 40 mile-an hour winds, 1 to 4 inches of rain and the chance for a spin-up tornado.

“We’re no stranger to tornadoes,” Lawrence says. “We’ve probably had 10 to 12 tornadoes and we know that most of our tornadoes have been devastating.”

Dozens of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed by the EF3 tornado in 2019.

Lowndes County has schools ready to serve as tornado shelters and the sheriff’s department and Columbus Police will provide security if needed. County and city fire crews are at the ready for search and rescue and damage assessment.

“They’ll start gathering their teams, checking equipment and getting everything ready to go in case that event happens,” says Lowndes County Fire Department Coordinator Neal Austin.

The different agencies’ history of working together has them ready to act.

“It’s important to know faces and to know people and to work together that when there is a disaster in your area,” says Lawrence. “We all have one goal and that is to protect the lives of our citizens in our county.”