Canton Declares Local Emergency Due to Hurricane Helene

In preparation for the potential for strong winds and flooding associated with the landfall and movement of Hurricane Helene, Canton Mayor Bill Grant has executed a local emergency declaration, the city announced.

City of Canton offices will be closed on Fri., Sept. 27, due to the expected impacts of the inclement severe weather, the city announced.

The city operated a localized Emergency Operations Center starting Thursday afternoon to include representatives of the police and public works departments, working in coordination with a county emergency operations center. If you experience an emergency, call 911.

For non-emergency items, such as downed trees, streetlight outages, traffic signal malfunctions, or other concerns in Canton, email TellUs@cantonga.gov. Include a name, address of the concern, and an email address or phone number.

Canton city offices closed Thursday at 1 p.m. The city is extending grace on payments due while offices are closed. There will not be any water cutoffs during the next week due to non-payment.

City parks along the Etowah River including all trails will be closed were closed at noon Thursday until further notice. Etowah River Park, Heritage Park, Harmon Park, and Boling Park are all in floodplain areas, along with connecting trails.

After the storm, all of Canton's personnel resources will first focus on road and infrastructure needs, the city reported, and then shift resources to parks.

The city will notify the public when the parks are ready to reopen.

Sanitation routes for Friday will be suspended by WastePro. The city asks residents to not place sanitation containers on the street for a Friday pick up. At this time, Waste Pro is prepared to recover these routes on Saturday. If something changes, the city will notify the public.

The city’s roll-off collection site at 2525 Ridge Road is closed Thursday afternoon through Friday. The city will use this site for emergency clean-up operations. The city will announce when it is available for public use again.

Public works will operate off of a zoned-approach brush removal program beginning Monday. More information will be shared in the next couple of days. For more information on zones, visit tinyurl.com/bdcrj4ex .

The city's water and wastewater systems are operating under a 24-hour operations plan. The city is working to have all storage tanks at capacity for as long as they can be operated. All city facilities have exercised and are prepared to work off back-up generators. The city's ability to intake raw water from the Etowah River for water operations will be based upon the turbidity (sedimentation/debris) within the river.

Additionally, the Hickory Log Creek Reservoir is below full pool, which will allow for stormwater collection and holding to help reduce flooding impacts in the city.

The city suggests that residents fully charge mobile devices, secure any exterior items that could be moved by wind, gather flashlights, extra batteries and any portable radios into a centralized area.

To sign up for Cherokee County Code Red communications, text CHEROKEE ALERT to 99411 or visit cherokeega-ema.org/codered . Residents can also sign up for city text communications from Canton by visiting tinyurl.com/4p9vz5es .

For updates on Hurricane Helene, visit the National Weather Service 's website.