Years of preparation help Anniston feel ready for Helene impacts

ANNISTON, Ala. ( WIAT ) – Portions of eastern Alabama are expected to see some of the biggest impacts from Helene from heavy rain to strong winds. In Anniston, winds have already caused problems prior to the storm making landfall.

A traffic light at Highland Avenue and East Tenth Street was blown down and the city expects it to be a few days before it is reinstalled and running again. The city is bracing for the worst of the weather to come Thursday but says true preparation takes years.

“When it comes to being preventative and prepared for storms, it’s certainly not something that starts the day before,” Anniston public informations officer Jackson Hodges said. “If the sky is already gray, you’re in trouble.”

The city of Anniston says over the last several years, it’s worked hard to fix drainage issues in flood-prone areas to help keep waters from getting too high.

“Our public works department was extremely proactive because a lot of these issues, you know, they involve retaining walls, retention ponds, a lot of complicated engineering,” Hodges said. “Flooding issues are something too that we encourage the citizens to let us know about, you know, because there are times when we can step in and it is in our best interest to help do something.”

Some people living in the area aren’t worried about the incoming weather.

“This area up here, only thing I worry about is tornadoes,” Gadsden resident Stephanie Crenshaw said. “I went through Hurricane Katrina, so it can’t be nothing more than that.”

“Well, I’ve seen the forecast, and I know we’ll get some rain and wind, but I just, I don’t think it will be severe,” Anniston resident Jeffery Stcyr said.

Others are stocking up on some emergency supplies just in case.

“Batteries, water,” Anniston resident Ishmal Hassan said. “Everybody rush to the grocery store to buy those stuff so I’ll try to beat everyone else to it.”

The Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency says it’s better to be overprepared than underprepared.

“It’s not about where it’s going to happen, it’s about when it’s going to happen,” Calhoun County EMA Emergency Manager of Logistics Tyrone Davis said.

Calhoun County EMA says in recent years, it has dealt with tornadoes and the COVID-19 pandemic which have helped the agency better learn how to communicate through and recover from crises.

“Let’s say we get a tornado watch or tornado warning, that starts to elevate what we need to do, who we need to be communicating with, who we need to be bringing into our emergency operations center,” Davis said. “It’s all stages or trigger points.”

Calhoun County EMA says if you come across a flooded area or downed trees and power lines, to call 911 so the proper agency can be alerted and dispatched.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42.