Aaron Duncan stared at the TV in disbelief after flooding brought by Hurricane Katrina washed over New Orleans — the city he had just evacuated from and once called home — in 2005.
“I was watching the news,” Duncan said. “I was like, ‘This can’t be New Orleans.'”
Having packed clothes that would last just a few days, Duncan left his home a day after Katrina made landfall, thinking the evacuation was temporary. Instead, he traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, stayed for a few months and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, afterward.
“Most of us took two to four days worth of clothing. … We expected to be gone for that long,” he said. “Nobody expected to see what we saw.”
Now, Duncan — area manager of six hotels in Columbus and Starkville — is expecting evacuees to come to him.
Hurricane Laura made landfall in southwest Louisiana overnight as a Category 4 with winds up to 150 miles per hour, bringing an “unsurvivable storm surge” that could penetrate up to 40 miles inland, according to the National Hurricane Center. The strong storms brought massive power outages to the states, forcing many to evacuate further inland for shelter, according to multiple news outlets. The hurricane has since weakened to a Category 2 as it continues to move north.
Across the Golden Triangle, hotels are preparing to see an influx of evacuees from Texas, Louisiana and southern Mississippi. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, several hotel managers told The Dispatch they have taken precautionary measures — such as social distancing, deep cleaning and minimal in-person contact — to welcome their guests, some of whom may come from the most dangerous COVID-19 hotspots among southern states.
At Courtyard by Marriott in Starkville, for example, the 104-room facility has a mask requirement for all guests and employees, Duncan said. The hotel disinfects high-touch areas and rooms between stays, practices six-feet social distancing in its lobby areas and provides hand sanitizers for guest use, he said.
If his hotels are booked up, Duncan said he will communicate with other hotels in the area to find the evacuees a place to stay within a reasonable price range.
“You have someone who has little in possession,” Duncan said of evacuees.
Jordan Gillentine, general manager for LaQuinta Inn and Suites in Starkville, said several guests from Lake Charles, Louisiana, have already booked rooms at the 90-room hotel. The hotel takes similar steps to slow the virus spread, he said.
“With football season being shifted later in the year, it opens up the opportunity for us to accept large groups like that,” he said. “We are ready to welcome them with open arms if they so choose.”
Sharon Jones, general manager at Best Western Executive Suites in Columbus, told The Dispatch the 73-room hotel allows for cars to pull up directly in front of individual rooms and self-check in. Due to the pandemic, the lobby area is closed, she said. Instead of a morning buffet, the hotel now serves pre-packaged breakfast.
Mixed bag of emotions
The occupancy rate at Best Western now sits at 40 percent, mainly because of the pandemic, Jones said. An influx of evacuees, she said, could give the hotel’s business a boost.
But, Jones said, she has mixed feelings about that.
“You don’t want to see it happen that way because people are leaving their homes not knowing what to expect,” she said.
For hotels that struggle to stay afloat as the pandemic slams the hospitality industry, Gillentine said the influx — although due to unfortunate reasons — may help.
“Obviously, you hate to see anyone from anywhere have to evacuate from their home, so the reason for the travel is unfortunate,” he said. “But … it does help us after what we’ve been through over the last several months with a drastic decrease in travel and hotel stays. It will somewhat help us bridge the gap.”
Having evacuated during a hurricane himself, Duncan said he understands what evacuees are going through. But for hotel employees, a higher occupancy rate may mean more hours worked to make a living, he said.
“It is unfortunate going through that. … You have guests that are here that don’t want to be here,” he said. “(But) employees can work more hours … to support their families.”
Community shelters may open with limited capacity
Greg Michel, executive director for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said during a Wednesday press conference the state does not expect a large number of evacuees, although it is preparing to open shelters in case there is a growing need.
During a pandemic, he said, the state may have to open more shelters to accommodate the same number of evacuees it would have accommodated in normal times.
Lowndes County Emergency Services Director Cindy Lawrence told The Dispatch the county is in talks with the Red Cross to staff roughly 12 community centers, which can be used to shelter evacuees if MEMA tells the county to open them. The shelters usually house 75 people each, she said, but they will operate at 25 percent of their normal capacity amid the pandemic.
To minimize the risk of infection, Lawrence said she recommends evacuees to stay in hotels if they have the resources. Community shelters, she said, are used as a “last resort.”
Torrey Williams, director of West Point Clay County Emergency Management Agency, told The Dispatch the county will also partner with the Red Cross to provide shelters if needed. The county currently has four designated shelters, with three in the city and one outside city limits. Similarly, the shelters will also operate at a 25-percent capacity, he said, and will require mask-wearing and provide hand sanitizers.
Williams said it is concerning that many of the evacuees could come from COVID-19 hotspots.
“The information about someone may not be available and the person may not be truthful about them having the virus,” he said. “That certainly complicates everything, because if they don’t tell you they have it, you won’t know.”
To minimize the risk of infection, Williams said he also recommends hotel stays. For those who have to stay in shelters, he said there will be temperature checks and questionnaires at the entrance. He is also contemplating the idea of separating evacuees according to their risk level.
“Maybe (set up) a high-risk, a medium-risk and a low-risk category, then put them at different shelters so we can keep that risk down low,” he said.
Yue Stella Yu was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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