Coast shelters will be enforcing these COVID protocols as Hurricane Ida threatens
All shelters open across the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Ida will be subject to the Centers for Disease Control’s COVID-19 guidance as the delta variant continues to sweep the region.
Following CDC guidance for congregate shelters, the American Red Cross will require shelter residents, volunteers and employees to wear masks and social distance regardless of vaccination status. The few Coastal shelters not run by Red Cross will also enforce the same CDC guidance.
Ida, expected to make landfall as a major Category 3 hurricane, comes as the Mississippi Department of Health on Friday reported 4,041 additional COVID cases, the highest number for a single day this week.
“We take this very seriously, in fact, we probably take COVID more seriously than the storm,” John McFarland, executive director of Red Cross Southeast Mississippi Chapter, said.
“All staff and shelter guests will be asked to be masked and socially distant. If they refuse, we can’t kick them out, but we’ll do our best to keep them segregated from everyone else.”
Right now across the Alabama and Mississippi region there are 44 shelters requested, according to McFarland. The shelters are operated by the American Red Cross, with support from the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
Emergency managers across the region asked for more shelters than they normally would for this type of storm, according to McFarland, because they’re requiring more space for social distancing.
“We’ve got shelter requests all the way up through north Mississippi because of the current track of the storm,” McFarland said. “The emergency managers, when they made their initial requests yesterday for shelter, they asked for at least one more than they would normally do for this sized storm so that people can be spread out.
The St. Martin shelter in Ocean Springs and the East Central Shelter in Hurley will open at 6 p.m. Saturday in Jackson County. Both will be run by Red Cross and subject to CDC congregate shelter guidance.
Harrison County is set to hold a Board of Supervisors meeting at 3 p.m. Friday, where an emergency management spokesperson said shelter locations and information should be decided.
The Red Cross runs some of Harrison County’s shelters but the same CDC guidance will be in effect at the other, county-run locations.
Hancock County is currently putting its shelter plan in place but will be implementing CDC guidelines for shelters “as best as [they] can,” according to an emergency management spokesperson.
The county will be taking resident’s temperatures upon shelter arrival and will put all who are COVID positive in a separate shelter.
Last year Hurricane Zeta ran through the Coast while COVID was impacting residents. McFarland said that most people were respectful of the CDC guidance the Red Cross kept in place.
“There’s always somebody that wants to give you a hard time but for the most part people were respectful,” he said.
Turnout at the shelters was not as large during Zeta compared to what the Red Cross is expecting Ida to bring in.
“During Zeta, the Red Cross had a couple of shelters in Mississippi and a few in Alabama that had people staying for a few days, but the largest they had was 8 people in one shelter, so social distancing wasn’t difficult,” McFarland said.
“Earlier shelters and earlier hurricanes, we had 50, 60 people living in a shelter for extended periods of time, but we didn’t have COVID to worry about.”
The Red Cross is in dire need of volunteers, McFarland said. COVID has also dampened their supply of human help.
“We need more volunteers,” he said. “We always do but it’s been exasperated by COVID because a lot of our volunteers are hesitant to do in-person work because of their age or other conditions.”
The Red Cross still has some volunteers coming back from deployment from Tropical Storm Fred and Rhode Island.
Volunteers would still need training and a background check and would not be ready to help for Ida, but McFarland requested all eligible, and especially vaccinated, Coastal residents sign up to be ready for the next storm.
Coastal residents can go to redcross.org to sign up to be volunteers.
Hurricane shelters
Jackson County
- East Jackson County, 18413 Highway 613, Hurley
- West Jackson County, 13000 Walker Road, Ocean Springs.
Shelters will open 6 p.m. Saturday. For transportation, call 228-875-4063. before 3 p.m. Saturday.
Hancock County
The Hancock County Emergency Management Agency in coordination with the American Red Cross and the MS Department of Human is opening its shelter at 10 a.m. Saturday at the following location:
- Kiln shelter, 18320 Highway 43, Kiln. Pets are not allowed at the shelter. For more information, call the Hancock Emergency Management Agency at 228-255-0942.
George County
Open at 8 a.m. Sunday
- Agricola Storm Shelter, 3161 Cooks Corner Road
- Benndale Storm Shelter, 5207 Hwy. 26 West
Medical Needs Shelter in Stone County
The Mississippi State Department of Health is opening a shelter of last resort for those people whose medical needs cannot be accommodated in a general population shelter.
It is at 1640 Coy Avenue in Wiggins.
Shelter admission is evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Those with health or medical conditions who require professional observation or care,
- Those with chronic conditions who require assistance with daily living activities or skilled nursing care, but do not require hospitalization,
- Those who need supervised medication dispensing or vital signs readings,
- Those with physical, mental, or cognitive disabilities who cannot be sheltered in a general population shelter, or
- Those with other disabilities who cannot be sheltered in a general population shelter.
Only one caregiver may accompany the resident inside the shelter. All residents should bring any prescribed medication or equipment needed for care if possible.
Service animals will be allowed. Other family pets can be accommodated in a nearby location.
Please be advised that because of COVID-19, the shelter will only operate at limited capacity with socially distanced medical-grade cots. Please bring clothes for your stay, as well as a mask. If you do not have a mask, one will be provided for you.
For general population shelter information, visit https://www.msema.org/shelters.
Transportation to shelters
Coast Transit Authority will provide rides to Harrison County shelters once they open.. All riders must be ready for pickup at the time set by Harrison County EMA officials.
Passengers will be transported to the shelters closest to their homes.
There is two-bag carry-on limit for each passenger and riders should bring their own hurricane supplies, such as food and water, oxygen, medications, baby formulas, wipes and diapers.
Passengers are required to wear masks. Log on to CoastTransit.com or call 228-896-8080 for more information.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 1:26 PM.
