Local EMA eyes historic potential for two Gulf hurricanes
It’s still too early to be sure, but if the two tropical systems heading for landfall in the Gulf of Mexico strengthen into hurricanes, it would be the first time in decades that hurricane season has brought more than one storm at a time onto southern shores. And if they strengthen into hurricanes, it’ll be the first time in recorded history that a pair of hurricanes has hit the Gulf.
What the trajectory of Laura and Marco — both tropical disturbance as of Friday — could mean for Cullman and North Alabama is still a matter for the projection models to predict. But local Emergency Management Agency director Phyllis Little said Friday that the state’s EMA watchers are already in communication to make sure help is in place, if it’s needed.
Neither storm is expected to arrive on land through the weekend, but by Monday, Laura could make landfall somewhere along the Florida panhandle, according to current models. Marco, meanwhile, could approach the Texas-Louisiana border area sometime early next week, though forecasting models could shift both the timing and the precise location.
“We are expecting two hurricanes in the Gulf next week, and at some point our weather will be affected by one or more of these storms,” Little said Friday. “Right now, we’re just in a wait-and-watch kind of mode, and currently, we’re not expecting either to hit through the weekend. This will be the first time since the 1950s that we’ve had two named storms in the Gulf. It’s the first time in recoded history that we’ve had the possibility of them both being hurricanes — and if everything holds according to the projections, they will.”
While it’s too early to know whether next week’s storms could bring the Cullman area tornadoes and flooding, or merely just a steady soaking, Little said EMAs throughout Alabama are already monitoring the disturbances in case the need arises to send mutual aid to the state’s southern reaches. The COVID-19 pandemic, though, may limit the extent of mutual aid assistance, depending on the extent of the potential damage.
There’s always that possibility, depending on how large it is and where it makes landfall, as well as how much rain we get,” she said. “With the COVID-19 situation on top of that, I really don’t look for a muster of assistance on the scale that we’ve done in the past, or sending people en masse to the coast — unless it is a really, really, bad situation.
“For now, everybody’s just kind of on hold, waiting to see what will happen. I can tell you, though, that the Alabama mutual assistance teams have all been alerted, and we’re all being kept up to date on what’s transpiring, in case any of those services are needed.”
Little advised residents and businesses to act now to review their worst-case weather plans. “For your family; for your business, be ready for any possibility — especially if we start having power outages,” she said. “Have a plan in place that would allow you to be able to care for yourself for several days.”