Posted on 10/08/2024 6:25:22 PM PDT by Red Badger
PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The Pensacola Bay Center in Downtown Pensacola opened Tuesday afternoon for evacuees fleeing from Hurricane Milton's path.
The doors opened at 4 p.m.
It's astate-ran, Red Cross-managed shelter. It's also pet-friendly.
Hurricane Milton weakened slightly Tuesday morning to a Category 4 storm. It's expected to make landfall in the Tampa Bay region as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday night into Thursday morning.Read more here.
"We are always willing, if we are not impacted, to assist our neighbors in any way that we can," said Scottlin Williams, Escambia County emergency management coordinator.
This is the first time the Bay Center has been open for host operations since Hurricane Irma in 2017. And it's all hands on deck.
Staff from the Tallahassee Red Cross will be on-site providing aid to evacuees.
Williams says the Red Cross is preparing food and delivering water for the evacuees. Their mission is to provide relief for those in need.
"We always say that shelters are a life boat, not a cruise ship," Williams said. "But for host sheltering, they do try to make it a little bit different, a little more comfortable."
Relief efforts in Pensacola extend beyond the Bay Center.
Deborah Tracy is the owner of Angel's Garden in East Hill.
She is partnering with non-profit Comeback Coolers to collect donations for those impacted by the hurricane. What's collected will be shipped to Orlando for distribution after the storm.
This is second shipment from our area.
"Our community, the communities in general -- not just Pensacola -- are so amazing," Tracy said. "How everybody wants to give and help. When somebody is in need, it's like we all come together."
Great! This needs to be advertised on TV and RADIO all across the state!....................
The Katrina Superdome was one of the most disgusting displays of humanity. That city still hasn’t recovered.
I expect Pensacola will do a better job than was done at the Katrina Superdome.
Many of the ‘refugees’ moved to the Houston Astrodome, and it was a shell then, long in disrepair. Rats (and feral cats) were abundant.
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