Milton evacuees thinning from Dothan hotels, but many are staying longer than they had expected

DOTHAN, Ala. (WDHN) — Evacuees are still sheltering in the Wiregrass after Milton forced them from their homes.

Many hotels in Dothan filled to full capacity Wednesday and Thursday night, with people looking for a safe place to stay after they were told to evacuate.

Since then some evacuees have returned home- but not everyone is able to stay there.

One hotel now tells us they’re seeing people who’ve gone home, then come back after finding out they still don’t have power or their house is in an unlivable condition.

“Many are checking back in,” said a receptionist at one of Dothan’s no-vacancy hotels that saw many evacuees stay this week.

“They go home, see they don’t have power, and come back-” a trip that can’t be an easy one, with many parts of the most affected areas being over 5 hours away. “We have no availabilities this entire weekend.”

Other hotels aren’t seeing the same happen, saying about half of the evacuees have left, with another half still there.

“It’s 50/50, honestly,” said another receptionist, at a different hotel. “Some go home, some are staying longer than they booked.”

One motel told us they had no room during the hurricane, but now have about 28 rooms available, so if you are making your trip to Dothan tonight to seek shelter, have no fear; there are still a handful of locations with availabilities.

Visit Dothan will be updating its Hotel Availability tool on Tuesday, October 15 for the latest information.

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