As restoration efforts continue, Columbia County officials have established services for residents in various areas of the county to address the basic post-storm needs.
At the Southside Sports Complex, showers, washers and dryers were set up to accommodate residents who needed the services as Hurricane Helene left widespread power outages in its wake after it passed through early Friday morning.
The units opened just after 8 a.m. on Sunday and around 11 a.m. there were more than a dozen people at the sports complex taking care of their laundry and personal hygiene needs, with a steady stream of additional vehicles coming into the area.
The units were set up in the southern parking area of the sports complex where a Columbia County Sheriff's Office deputy was on site providing information about other services that were available. Just hundreds of yards away, the park showed scars from where Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the area with downed trees, ball park fencing leaning in different directions.
Sherri Woods, Keith Brown and Kate Reeves were collecting information from CCSO Deputy Greg William at the site while washing their clothes. Woods and Brown said they were at the laundry units washing their clothing after their homes was damaged in the storm.
Woods said they had been at the laundry units for close to an hour.
“It’s closer to my house and I live right down the road,” she said of going to the units at Southside Sports Complex. “We were only here for about 15 minutes before starting a load.”
Woods said she was not surprised to see so many other people at the site seeking the same services but noted the damage from the storm impacted lots of people.
“The house is OK, but we had a huge tree down and it messed up his window unit,” she said. “It could have been worse.”
Supplies and resources are available at a handful of locations around Columbia County.
Supplies may be limited, and the sites will be restocked when possible but there is no timeframe provided for when new resources are coming in.
As of 6 p.m. Sunday, the following locations had the following supplies:
Stay tuned, we’re updating this post as we can on availability.
- Winfield Community Center, 1324 NW Winfield St., Lake City: Showers, bathrooms, ice, MREs, tarps, water, shelter
- Deep Creek Community Center, 11934 N. US Highway 441, Lake City: Showers, bathrooms, laundry, MREs, water, ice, tarps, shelter
- Fort White Library, 17700 SW SR 47, Fort White: Showers, bathrooms, laundry
- Fort White Community Center, 17579 SW SR47, Fort White: Water, MREs, ice, tarps, shelter
- Richardson Community Center, 255 NE Coach Anders Ln., Lake City: Bathrooms, general population shelter, special needs shelter
- Mason City Community Center, 11110 S. US Highway 441, Lake City: Showers, bathrooms, laundry, ice, water, tarps, MREs
- Shands Lake Shore HRIM, 428 NE Davis Ave, Lake City: bathrooms, pet-friendly shelter
- Lulu Community Center, 205 SE Community Dr, Lulu: Ice, water, MREs, tarps
- Southside Sports Complex, 1963 SW Bascom Norris Drive, Lake City: Showers, bathrooms, water, MREs, ice