This story was updated Thursday, Sept. 26th at 1:34 p.m.
Around metro Atlanta and Georgia, state and local agencies are opening emergency shelters to prepare for Hurricane Helene, which is expected to hit Florida and cause heavy rainfall and flooding in Georgia Thursday afternoon and evening. Here are locations of the shelters announced so far.
Atlanta
In a press conference Wednesday, Atlanta city officials announced a portion of the former Atlanta Medical Center building at 303 Parkway Drive NE will be available during the storm for those without housing. The Central Park, former Adamsville and Selena S. Butler recreation centers may be used as overflow.
The Gateway Center at 275 Pryor St. is opening its engagement center for shelter for 45 men and 5 women from Thursday 6 p.m. to Friday 9 a.m.
The Salvation Army confirmed that it is also providing emergency shelter at 469 Marietta St. NW from Thursday 9 p.m. until Friday 8 a.m. The shelter is allowing families with two adults and two children.
East Point
The city of East Point is offering shelter at 3121 Norman Berry Drive until Saturday morning.
DeKalb County
Dekalb County announced severe weather shelters at four locations.
Frontline Response International at 2585 Gresham Road will be open 24 hours during the storm. Center for Pan Asian Community Services at 3510 Shallowford Road NE opens Thursday at 4 p.m. New Life Community Alliance is providing its auditorium at 3592 Flat Shoals Road starting Thursday at 5 p.m.
The county also said Tucker First United Methodist Church is offering a shelter at 4315 Church St. beginning Thursday at 7 p.m., though it has limited capacity.
Statewide
Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency also posted a list of emergency shelters across the state.
In Newton County, Cousins Middle School at 8187 Carlton Trail NW in Covington will be open to residents starting at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
A number of shelters are also open in South Georgia. In Lowndes County, residents can visit Park Avenue at 100 E. Park Ave, Valdosta. In Thomas County, a shelter is open at Cross Creek Elementary at 324 Clark Rd, Thomasville. In Dougherty County, the Albany Civic Center is available at 100 W. Oglethorpe Blvd.
In Colquitt County, the Spense Community Center is open in Moultrie at 290 Harper Blvd. In Coffee County, there is the Central Square Complex at 216 S Madison Ave. in Douglas. In Cook County, there is the Cook County High School at 9900 GA 37 in Adel. In Camden County, residents can visit the PSA Rec Center in Kingsland at 1050 Wildcat Drive.
This is a developing story.
