- A surplus of rain has fallen in the Valdosta area over the last year.
- Community leaders are preparing neighbors for future flooding events.
- Watch the video above to see how you can be ready before the next storm strikes.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Hurricane season is less than three months out, and neighbors are preparing the weather ahead. I'm Malia Thomas, your neighborhood reporter in Valdosta. I'm checking in with neighbors who still have Hurricane Idalia on their mind.
"I've never seen weather like this. I don't think a hurricane's hit Valdosta in the 300 years prior to the one that's just happened." Dillan Tison has lived in Lowndes County his whole life.
Hurricane Idalia's flooding and winds damaged his home along with thousands of others. "It was God awful," Tison said. "We hear the branch hit the top of the house, or listening to the trees snap the sounds, and clinks and clunks are just spooky, especially when you got a wife and children in the house, you know?"
He tells me part of the reason the hurricane caused so much destruction was because people just weren't prepared."We had days warning in advance. We knew there was going to be a hurricane, and nobody, and I mean nobody, thought nothing of it."
That's what The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency and Lowndes County Emergency Management are trying to prevent this time around. They've spent the past week giving flood preparedness tips to neighbors to help them plan in advance of any storms.
To mitigate the damage, Meghan Barwick, Lowndes County Public Information Officer, recommends, "to have emergency supply kits with non perishable food items medications any other item that they may need in the event that they are without some sort of power throughout the day."
Heavy rain has been a trend here lately.
The First to Know Team tells me between March 14, 2023 and March 13, 2024, 62.27 inches of rain have fallen in the city of Valdosta. On average, around 48.41 inches of rain falls per year in Valdosta. In the last year, more than 62 inches of rain fell in Valdosta. That's about 14 inches more than average.
The wettest day in Valdosta was August 30, 2023. This was the day of Hurricane Idalia's landfall with over 7 inches of rain falling.
Georgia has seen $12.8 million dollars in damage to homes and infrastructure. Something to think about as you prepare for hurricane season.
