Hurricane Irma: Atlanta Motor Speedway Will Open Camp Grounds For Evacuees

HAMPTON, GA -- The Atlanta Motor Speedway announced Wednesday that it will open its camp grounds to people fleeing Hurricane Irma, Patch has learned. The monster storm is currently classified as a category 5 and churning through the Caribbean.
The facilities at the speedway will be free of charge for evacuees. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

The speedway is equipped to accommodate thousands of campers, as it does during its annual NASCAR weekend. The facility will open its RV and tent campgrounds as soon as Thursday, Sept. 7.

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"Those interested in RV or tent camping at Atlanta Motor Speedway should enter the facility at Entrance "E" off GA Highway 19/41," the speedway said in a news release. "The Unreserved Campgrounds will be on the left. From I-75 and GA Highway 20, campers should see signs to AMS and follow Lower Woolsey road to Entrance "H" and the Speedway Credential Building. Make a right into Speedway property and then another immediate right onto Richard Petty Boulevard. Follow Richard Petty Boulevard and turn left into Entrance "G". The campgrounds will be on the right."
Click here for a detailed map of the speedway camp grounds.

Irma, the strongest Atlantic Ocean storm ever recorded, was veering toward Florida's late Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the storm, with sustained winds of 185 mph and wind gusts reaching an incredible 225 mph, slammed into the Caribbean island of Barbuda before moving over the British Virgin Islands.

Image via National Hurricane Center