Pee Dee school and government officials say it’s too early to tell whether there will be any closings because of Tropical Storm Hanna and are waiting to see what the storm’s next moves will be.
Dusty Owens, director of the Florence County Emergency Preparedness Department, said he met with state officials and the National Weather Service via a 2 p.m. conference call Wednesday to discuss the storm’s projected track in the coming days.
Owens said after receiving the latest forecasts, the opening of the Emergency Operation Center has been pushed back from today to some time Friday.
“The storm is not moving as fast as it was and the projected landfall has moved,” Owens said. “Based on forecasts from previous days, we had anticipated opening our EOC (Emergency Operation Center) at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, but now with the current track, we’re basically pushing that back.
“Most likely, we will not open our EOC until some time on Friday for 24-hour staffing,” he said. “Obviously, we’re here for 8 to 12 hours a day now, but we’ll go (to) 24-hour operations some time on Friday, unless, of course, the storm track moves again in the next update.”
Owens said he has been in touch with all the emergency response organizations and the municipalities, as well as school districts in the county, to share information.
“(School districts) are closely monitoring the weather to see if they should have school on Friday,” Owens said. “At this point, no decision has been made on that.”
As of press time Wednesday, no school or government closings were reported in the Pee Dee. There have been reports of changes in the scheduling of area sporting events.
Ken Buck, public information officer for Chesterfield County School District, said the district is “taking it day-by-day and hour-by-hour,” so no information concerning school closings was available Wednesday.
Officials with both Francis Marion University and Florence-Darlington Technical College said classes still are scheduled for Friday as of Wednesday and that officials are closely monitoring the weather.
Randall Malichi, public information officer for Marlboro County School District, said as of Wednesday, the district had no plans to close schools Friday.
As for any shelters in the area, Owens said shelters are open within four hours of the governor’s orders of a mandatory evacuation.
“At this point, there is no order from the governor to do any evacuations, so, right now, there are no plans to open a shelter in the immediate future,” he said. “Come Friday afternoon, we may reassess that. Right now, there’s no shelter opening plans.
Some Pee Dee shelters may open when coastal residents are asked to evacuate and additional shelters will open as necessary.
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