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FEMA, Red Cross make plans in Georgia as Hurricane Dorian approaches

Authorities are making no apology for over-planning

ATLANTA — Authorities in Georgia are girding for a destructive hurricane and disaster relief.

At the FEMA headquarters in DeKalb County, there were about eighty people in the room Friday morning, representing eighteen federal agencies – planning and waiting for Dorian to set a clear path to the U.S. coast.

"This is predicted right now to be a category three, category four storm, in that range. So we’re going to (prepare for) a category five," said Glen Sachtleben, director of the Atlanta FEMA office.

RELATED: How Dorian could impact Georgia

Authorities here make no apology for over-planning a bit.  

"If we’re planning at that level and it happens at a lower level, we’re all better off," Sachtleben said.

He says they’re planning to handle power outages, road closures, fuel shortages and perhaps much worse.

FEMA is operating on twelve-hour shifts. Workers who had planned to be with their families over a long weekend are now hoping their own homes aren’t among those clobbered by Dorian.

RELATED: Hurricane Dorian predicted make landfall as Category 4 storm

At the disaster field supply center of the American Red Cross, located in south Fulton County, workers were shipping shelter supplies Friday afternoon – and heading south.

"We’re sending out enough supplies now to help thousands of people right now," said Ashley Henyan, spokeswoman for the Red Cross in Georgia.

The Red Cross estimates 19 million people are potentially in the path of this storm. 

Workers aim to cover a broad swath -- that they hope will narrow next week as Dorian bears down. "So (we're) just standing by, being ready. No shelters are open at the time, but that doesn’t mean that won't happen in the future," Henyan said. 

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