Preparations
The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch on July 17, as Danny strengthened to a tropical storm, for the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. When Danny strengthened to a hurricane on July 18, a few hours before its landfall in far southeastern Louisiana and over a day before landfall in Alabama, the hurricane watch was upgraded to a hurricane warning. Grand Isle mayor Arthur Ballenger ordered the evacuation of the town's 1,500 residents, a decision made due to the large number of tourists on the island and to prevent anyone from being unable to leave the island. With a 5 foot (1.5 m) storm surge possibility, it had the potential to flood the only highway out of the island. Officials distributed sandbags to residents in St. Bernard Parish to seal off easily flooded roads, with officials recommending that residents leave the area.
Prior to the arrival of the hurricane, the governors of Mississippi and Alabama declared disaster emergencies, expecting a 9-foot (2.7 m) storm surge and up to 20 inches (500 mm) of rain at that time. Six shelters were opened in Mobile County, though few attended them. Officials also considered opening shelters near local casinos and beaches in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Southeastern Massachusetts also had a tropical storm warning issued, a few hours before sustained tropical storm force winds affected the area and less than 12 hours before its closest approach to the coastline.
Read more about this topic: Hurricane Danny (1997)
Famous quotes containing the word preparations:
“Whatever may be the reason, whether it was that Hitler thought he might get away with what he had got without fighting for it, or whether it was that after all the preparations were not sufficiently complete—however, one thing is certain: he missed the bus.”
—Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)
“In all the important preparations of the mind she was complete; being prepared for matrimony by an hatred of home, restraint, and tranquillity; by the misery of disappointed affection, and contempt of the man she was to marry. The rest might wait. The preparations of new carriages and furniture might wait for London and the spring, when her own taste could have fairer play.”
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)