Warner Robins prepares for Hurricane Helene

"It doesn't matter if it's category one up to a category five, you make sure to take every storm seriously," said Craig Clifton, Director of the Warner Robins Public Works Department.

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – All hands are on deck in Warner Robins as they are currently preparing for Hurricane Helene.

Staff at the Public Works Department located at 210 Bay Street, with the approval of Warner Robins Mayor LaRhonda Patrick, gave out sandbags to residents early Tuesday.

To prepare for potential flooding residents are allowed 10 sandbags per household.

Craig Clifton, Director of the Warner Robins Public Works Department says he has seen plenty of hurricanes and recommends to take every storm seriously.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s category one up to a category five, you make sure to take every storm seriously. That’s the way we do it here. I’d rather have more personnel on the road and not need them to not have the personnel out here or the preparedness that we have here as far as the sandbags go. We just want to get ahead of the storm. Any type of flooding, if we can help the residents out, we will, by all means,” said Clifton.

“We will have crews working throughout the night. We’ll have crews on the roads themselves, checking all the stormwater drains along with the Stormwater Compliance Department also and we have some crews out in the parks right now trying to clear out the park areas, trying to take care of any hazards throughout the city,” he said.

“If you don’t have any business outside, just stay at home, stay contained. If there’s any problems or any emergencies, call 911 and they’ll dispatch us or emergency services as needed,” said Clifton.

If you need sandbags and couldn’t make it today, the Public Works Department will still be giving them out Thursday from 7:00AM – 3:30PM.