Storm Shelter Work Is Underway

By REBECCA HAZEN
News Editor

Alex Case, Dade County Director of Emergency Services, spoke about the progress of the storm shelters during the weekly county update on April 1.

“A lot of questions have come up during the past storms about the status of our storm shelters,” Case said. “We were awarded a grant from a 2016 flooding event. It has taken nearly five years to get this approved by FEMA. We are working diligently to get the sites prepared.”

There will be three storm shelters. One will be located at the Dade County Sports Complex, one in the South Dade Community Center on School Street in Rising Fawn, and the last on Davis School Road.

The shelters will be worked on in stages. The Sports Complex location will be first.

“When you go down to the main entrance and you turn right to where the soccer and football fields will be, you will see four red flags. That is going to be the location of the building,” Case explained.

The buildings will be solid concrete bunkers and will hold seating for 265 people. They will be open during all tornado watches.

The buildings are being constructed by Modular Connections in Bessemer, Ala.

“We will start seeing foundation work soon. Mother nature plays a lot into this. We are hoping with the next few weeks that we are seeing sunshine that we will get some ground broken,” Case said.

If you would like to be a member of the HUB, which is the local disaster relief civic organization, call Public Information Officer Carey Anderson at (423) 290-6655. The HUB will still continue alongside the shelters.

It was also noted during the county update that County Executive Ted Rumley was named to the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority Board. Vice Chair Commissioner Robert Goff was named to the Coosa-North Georgia Regional Water Planning Council

“Congratulations are in order,” Anderson said. “Both of these appointments were made by Governor Kemp.”
Rumley reported that County Road 6 is getting really close to being finished, and he should know a definite open date by this week.

Rumley also noted that the former Fred’s on 11858 S Main Street will become a Dollar General Market.

“They have to turn the keys over to the Dollar General people in 30 days, which started on Monday [March 29],” Rumley said.

Rumley also thanked all the people who showed loved and support for the Bradford family, as well as all the people who worked to keep people aware and safe during the recent storms.

“Pray for Allan’s family. We appreciate everyone’s prayers and all of the cards you sent. It was a sad day, but the weather was great on Friday and Allan would have been proud,” Rumley said.

“I want to thank Alex and all of our police officers, fire department and EMA, through these days of storms. It is scary times when they start announcing all the watches. I appreciate all the people that work with us on that,” Rumley said.

There will be a November election to replace Allan Bradford’s Commissioner seat, for District 4 Lookout Mountain.

The qualifying dates are Aug. 16-18, from 9-5 p.m., held in the Dade County Board of Elections Office at 71 Case Avenue. The qualifying fee is $120.

COVID-19 vaccinations are open to all adults ages 16 and older. To make an appointment at the Dade County Health Department, call (706) 657-4213.

Another option is the vaccination center in Ringgold, located at The Colonnade Center, 264 Catoosa Cir. A direct link to sign up for a vaccine at the center can be found online at dadecounty-ga.gov.

Dade County has seen 20 cases in the past two weeks, for a total of 1,174 COVID-19 cases. The number of cases can be found at https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report.