By By Lisa Tindell – news editor
Offices around the Brewton area were packing up items from the floor and covering equipment Friday as the area prepared to be pelted by heavy rains this weekend.
Escambia County Emergency Management Director David Adams has been monitoring Tropical Storm Fay for several days, watching her approach to Brewton carefully.
The problems Adams was referring to could include some flooding and flash flooding situations.
Adams said that even rain would mean that rain had to fall at the same pace on the same track for longer than 24 hours to meet conditions for flooding.
According to information from the National Hurricane Center, the track of Tropical Storm Fay was expected to bring the storm nearest to Brewton Saturday with heavy rainfall predicted for the entire weekend. By late Friday, rainfall was predicted to be 7 to 9 inches, with 12 inches possible in some areas.
Winds were forecast Friday to be 25 to 35 mph with higher gusts. Isolated tornadoes are possible ahead of and during the passing of the storm, Adams said.
Although EMA officials did not expect to open any evacuation shelters as a result of Fay's activities, plans are in place for whatever weather hazards may be presented by any storm in the area, Adams said.
Adams said residents in the area should always be prepared and Fay is a good reminder of how important being prepared can be.
Brock Long, director of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, is also urging residents across the state to review and update family emergency plans.
With the hurricane season's end still more than a month away, there is plenty of time for other storms to form and head to our area, Adams said.
Adams said reaching the peak of the hurricane season, shouldn't give anyone the idea that the risks of being hit by a storm decreases.