The American Red Cross opened an evacuation shelter at Theodore High School as a Gulf storm system threatened the Alabama coast, giving residents in low-lying areas a place to ride out the weather.
Doors at the school opened at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon, with shelter staffing already in place, according to the organization’s announcement. Officials said impacts from the storm overnight would determine how long the shelter stayed open.
Meals and Storm Response Staged
A feeding plan was set to activate for dinner the following evening, along with breakfast Wednesday if the shelter’s timeline extended that far. Red Cross teams also planned to staff the Division A Emergency Operations Center if it activated, and to support the Mobile County EOC starting the next afternoon.
Damage assessment teams were placed on standby to begin work as soon as the weather cleared Wednesday.
The shelter opening was part of a broader coastal preparation effort as forecasters tracked tropical development in the Gulf of Mexico, with officials urging Mobile County residents in flood-prone spots to take the storm seriously and know their evacuation options.