Franklin County prepares for Hurricane Helene

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Fla. ( WMBB ) – Franklin County Sheriff A.J. Smith is urging community members to evacuate.

“What I’d recommend is to evacuate, but if they’re deciding they’re going to stay, you make sure they have water and food, they have a generator, make sure it’s running outside, not inside, because that can be also deadly if it’s running inside your house. So just be prepared. Stay inside. You’re not going to be able to go out. The roads are going to be covered in water,” Smith said.

Sheriff’s deputies will remain on duty during the hurricane, but they will not be available to help anyone at the height of the storm. Smith said there will be a point when Helene’s winds and rain will be too dangerous for deputies to respond to calls for help.

“Catastrophic flooding, high winds, which means a lot of property damage. Damage to our roads. Cell phones could be out, internet, electricity, just, you know, a lot of stuff,” Smith said.

Many residents boarded up their houses and businesses. Some stacked-up sandbags to reduce any flood water damage. Despite the warnings, some residents say aren’t too worried about Hurricane Helene.

“We’re going to get a lot of water, but I think we’re pretty much fine. We just battened everything down, trying to get everybody’s cars home and get everything away from here,” Franklin County resident Robert Crosby said.

Flooding has already been an issue in the area. With this storm, it could become much worse. The storm surge could be at least 15 feet, maybe more. Crosby says he is staying behind to assist safety and cleanup crews after the storm ends.

“Cleanup crews are going to need us and we’re going need to help them out,” Crosby said.

Right now, there are not any emergency evacuation shelters planned for Franklin County.

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