Emergency personnel deal with severe weather over long holiday weekend

ALBANY — Dougherty County’s temperature dip into the teens over the holiday weekend was a relatively uneventful one for first responders.

Traffic accidents were down and, most importantly, there were no fatalities from temperatures that dropped to as low as 16 degrees on Christmas Eve, Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler said.

“My supervisors did not report any major issues that were weather-related,” Dougherty County Emergency Medical Services Director Sam Allen said. “Actually, call volume was down somewhat. We were fortunate not to have had as many accidents as we have in previous years.”

Emergency medical personnel responded to one drug overdose case, on Saturday.

On Thursday about 320 Albany Utilities customers in the downtown area were without power for a short period, but the cause was an auto accident and not due to the weather.

“We were prepared. I’ve been in contact with Chief (Cedric) Scott,” Allen said, referring to the Albany Fire Department chief who also serves as the county’s emergency management agency director.

The city and county declared a joint state of emergency ahead of the severe weather event that brought some of the coldest temperatures felt in years to the area and opened the emergency operations center for the weather event.

“We had a good weekend, actually,” Allen said. “We’re thankful for that.”

At the Salvation Army, warming centers open over the weekend drew a crowd, and the number staying overnight peaked at 19 on Friday. Fifteen people got out of the cold during the daytime each day on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday at the organization’s Place 4 Hope center.

“We’ve had a lot of people show up in our day center because of the cold,” Salvation Army Capt. Chris Thomas said. “It was pretty full Saturday and Sunday. Those are days we’d usually have been closed.

“We did have more people in the (overnight) shelter than we have in a little while.”

The city of Albany also opened overnight warming centers for three nights — Friday, Saturday and Sunday — and housed individuals from 8 p.m. until noon each day. A total of 11 people stayed one or more of the nights at the two Recreation and Parks Department facilities.

While the numbers were low, it could have made the difference for someone, department Director Steven Belk said.

“That’s the thing,” he said. “It wasn’t a multitude, but saving anyone is better than leaving them out in the cold, and that’s what it’s all about. It makes a difference when you can save just one life. There’s an impact.”

With the first winter cold snap coming before the traditional coldest months of January and February, the weekend effort provided a chance to coordinate with other agencies if further operations are needed later during the winter season, Belk said.

“It was good, just the collaboration between all the facilities and working in unity,” he said. “I think all the facilities did a good job in offering people a place to be safe.”

File PhotoAlanMauldin[email protected]
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