Hurricane Irma: 'The Entirety Of Florida Is Coming To Atlanta'

ATLANTA, GA -- As Hurricane Irma touched ground Sunday in Florida, metro Atlanta streets and thoroughfares swelled with visitors. Traffic anywhere along the Interstate 75/85 corridor was thick as hotels and lodging facilities along the way were filled with people.

Airbnb told Patch that it had activated its Disaster Response Program in metro Atlanta, which means that local homes could be booked for free. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Hurricane Irma Slams Florida

The free lodgings program will be in effect until Sept. 28 for displaced people and relief workers deployed to help, Airbnb spokeswoman Crystal Davis told Patch. Days ago, the program was implemented only in South Georgia near the Florida line.

Meanwhile at the Atlanta Speedway in nearby Hampton, a plethora of campers were honkered down at the RV and tent campgrounds. On Saturday, the Speedway invited Irma evacuees to watch the quarter-mile Legends and Bandolero races from the grandstands free of charge.

"We feel for our fellow people going through some difficult times right now, and we want to do whatever we can to take some of the stress off of them," said Ed Clark, AMS president. "We've decided to open the grandstands and let the people on property come and watch the races. We've even changed the name to the Irma 300. We got that name because a usual day of double-feature Legends racing is about 300 laps.

For Melissa Cotton, a volunteer with Forsyth County-based Save The Horses, preparing for the severe weather goes hand-in-hand with saving the animals of residents who are forced to flee these powerful storms. Cotton said she and her organization are currently housing 140 horses at its facility on Newt Green Road near Cumming.

Cotton, who spoke to Patch Sunday morning, said the organization dispatched a crew of nine people to Texas to take three truckloads of supplies to state following the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The last members of that crew returned Saturday evening with two horses owned by a man who lost his other horses and cows during the storm and whose pasture is too wet and barn remains underwater.

“He had nowhere to take them (so) they can be treated for the river rot that’s affecting the whole body,” Save The Horses added on its Facebook page. “The local veterinarians are overloaded with taking care of animals and these two need daily care. We offered to take them back to Georgia and he will come and bring them back to Texas was there well and ready to travel.. We're not charging him anything for this. Wer’e doing it because it's the right thing to do.”

With Hurricane Irma hitting Florida and bound for Georgia, Cotton said Save the Horses continues to seek donation such as hay, equine, dog and cat food and animal medical supplies “now that we will be in Florida” assisting with any rescue efforts.

She also praised the efforts of Save The Horses founder, Cheryl Flanagan, who has been at the forefront of these efforts.

“Without her, none of this happens,” she added.

Over the past couple days, metro Atlanta has seen a dramatic rise in Floridians fleeing the storm, packing grocery stores, streets and other businesses. Late Saturday, the Publix on Camp Creek Parkway had long lines in the parking lot as vehicles -- many of them with Florida plates -- came in and out.

“Right now the trend we’re seeing is the entirety of Florida is coming to Atlanta,” Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Natalie Dale told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We just want people to know there are more options.”

Hurricane Irma Barrels Toward Florida

Irma, the strongest Atlantic Ocean storm ever recorded, was making landfall on the Florida Keys Sunday morning.

Over the past few days, 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 and Cuba.

Image via National Hurricane Center