Vigo County prepares for hurricane remnants

VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Hurricane Helene has reached land in Florida Thursday night and the effects will be felt in Vigo County in the following days.

Vigo County Commissioners and emergency management came together to prepare residents for the strong winds and potential flooding.

If they have loose tree limbs hanging in their yards, or around their driveways, or their homes, to maybe take some action quickly this evening or tomorrow morning. Get those things off your patios, like your chairs, your tables, your grills and stuff like that. Just in case we do have some strong winds so there’s no damage to their homes.

Chris Switzer – Vigo County Commissioner

With a hurricane of this size, flooding is even a possibility in Vigo County.

If this does occur, Vigo County Emergency Management urges people to only travel when needed.

Being mindful of where they’re at, don’t drive through standing or flowing water. Try to minimize travel as much as you can too because when you get out there and moving around, it puts a lot of strain on public safety and things like that.

Keith Holbert – Deputy Director – Vigo County Emergency Management

The Wabash Valley is no stranger to storms the past couple of years. Many of those left residents without power for days but having notice in advance of Hurricane Helene has made a difference.

This is kind of different from the storms that we’ve had over the last couple years, where they kind of just sporadically pop up, and we have to deal with it after the fact. I think right now, due to some great meteorologists and forecasts, we are kind of prepared for Hurricane Helene to get here and just want to make citizens aware at this time.

Chris Switzer – Vigo County Commissioner

Vigo County Commissioners and emergency management have not put out an emergency declaration as of Thursday night, but they will continue to monitor the weather conditions.

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