Driving down soon....I75....what to expect post Helene?

[disneyfreak89]

Our hearts go out to those who were affected by the devastating hurricane. We booked our trip months ago and reserved all our hotels down and back.

We just had one of the hotels (Lake Park, GA) cancel our reservation because they have no hydro due to Helene.

I've checked the other hotels and so far they seem fine but now I wonder if we will encounter no gas or closed restaurants etc. in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida.

Should we cancel our trip?

 

[fla4fun]

Our hearts go out to those who were affected by the devastating hurricane. We booked our trip months ago and reserved all our hotels down and back.

We just had one of the hotels (Lake Park, GA) cancel our reservation because they have no hydro due to Helene.

I've checked the other hotels and so far they seem fine but now I wonder if we will encounter no gas or closed restaurants etc. in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida.

Should we cancel our trip?

Lake Park is close to Valdosta, and that is where Helene entered Georgia from Florida, so I am not surprised that they may need repairs to hotels there.

The choice of whether to cancel or not is a personal one that only you can make. You do have some choices.

One of the things I did right after Helene was bookmark the traffic websites for the affected states. Looking at those this evening, I do not see any road closures for I-75. Here they are, first Tennessee, then Georgia, then Florida.



The first thing I would do is see if there is another hotel that you can stay in for the cancelled night. It may need to be a little farther north than you anticipated. Where were you planning to overnight before the Lake Park stop? Coming farther south is also an option, but eventually you would reach a point where it might make sense to just continue into Orlando. Just out of curiosity I checked Hilton’s website, and all three of their hotels in Lake City, Florida are open and accepting reservations, but only one in Valdosta, Georgia is accepting reservations and several nights are sold out. That could be due to locals with storm damage and repair workers from out of state.

Since I-75 is open, and is a busy commerce route, I would expect there to be fuel at most of the stations right along the interstate. That being said, I would try to fill up somewhere between Macon and Cordele in Georgia, so that you don’t need to stop for fuel along the hardest hit areas. Once you get south of Lake City, Florida, you should be okay fuel wise the rest of the way into Orlando.

If it were me, since you aren’t traveling to or through the hardest hit areas, I would go so long as I could get a room to replace the canceled one. I would stop for fuel more often in Georgia so the car stayed above a half tank, just in case, but otherwise it shouldn’t be an issue. However, I would not leave home without having a replacement hotel reservation in place, and if you are uncomfortable with the idea of traveling right now, there is no shame in postponing or canceling.

Good luck, whichever you choose!

 

[loves to dive]

I can't say for the Tenn and Florida but I can for Georgia, I live here. Hubby had to drive down to south Georgia to take his parents a generator and gas cans full of gas to run it on Sunday. (they are predicted to be out of power for 2 weeks after the storm. As of yesterday, Thursday, they were still out of power but some of the town had it). He took roads through smaller towns and all were open so 75 should be no problem. Once he got south of Sandersville, none of the homes had power, some of the bigger stores and gas stations did. Our governor just suspended the gas tax so at least where you can find it, it's cheap. South Georgia, even away from the coast was hit hard. His parents live about 45 min. west of Savannah and lost a lot of trees (estimate is $8000 to get their yard cleared of trees). I would suggest getting gas before Macon and then when you get down to half tank, start watching the signs for the bigger stations like Loves, TA, Pilot, etc. If you have Gas Buddy app. it will tell you what is open and it's usually pretty accurate. You can also google gas available along I75 and there are couple of sites that list most of the stations.

As far as hotels, the further south you go in Georgia, the harder it's going to get to find something just because of the power issue and the evacuees. Orlando didn't get hit and I think after you get about a hour or two out of Georgia, it wasn't as bad.

 

[disneyfreak89]

Lake Park is close to Valdosta, and that is where Helene entered Georgia from Florida, so I am not surprised that they may need repairs to hotels there.

The choice of whether to cancel or not is a personal one that only you can make. You do have some choices.

One of the things I did right after Helene was bookmark the traffic websites for the affected states. Looking at those this evening, I do not see any road closures for I-75. Here they are, first Tennessee, then Georgia, then Florida.

View attachment 900433View attachment 900435View attachment 900436

The first thing I would do is see if there is another hotel that you can stay in for the cancelled night. It may need to be a little farther north than you anticipated. Where were you planning to overnight before the Lake Park stop? Coming farther south is also an option, but eventually you would reach a point where it might make sense to just continue into Orlando. Just out of curiosity I checked Hilton’s website, and all three of their hotels in Lake City, Florida are open and accepting reservations, but only one in Valdosta, Georgia is accepting reservations and several nights are sold out. That could be due to locals with storm damage and repair workers from out of state.

Since I-75 is open, and is a busy commerce route, I would expect there to be fuel at most of the stations right along the interstate. That being said, I would try to fill up somewhere between Macon and Cordele in Georgia, so that you don’t need to stop for fuel along the hardest hit areas. Once you get south of Lake City, Florida, you should be okay fuel wise the rest of the way into Orlando.

If it were me, since you aren’t traveling to or through the hardest hit areas, I would go so long as I could get a room to replace the canceled one. I would stop for fuel more often in Georgia so the car stayed above a half tank, just in case, but otherwise it shouldn’t be an issue. However, I would not leave home without having a replacement hotel reservation in place, and if you are uncomfortable with the idea of traveling right now, there is no shame in postponing or canceling.

Good luck, whichever you choose!

Thank you so much for your thoughts and insight. The maps were very helpful and reassuring! We have tentatively booked a room in Tifton, GA to replace the one in Lake Park. Hopefully it will be ok there. Thank you too for suggesting we fill up whenever possible before the affected area, we will definitely do that!

I can't say for the Tenn and Florida but I can for Georgia, I live here. Hubby had to drive down to south Georgia to take his parents a generator and gas cans full of gas to run it on Sunday. (they are predicted to be out of power for 2 weeks after the storm. As of yesterday, Thursday, they were still out of power but some of the town had it). He took roads through smaller towns and all were open so 75 should be no problem. Once he got south of Sandersville, none of the homes had power, some of the bigger stores and gas stations did. Our governor just suspended the gas tax so at least where you can find it, it's cheap. South Georgia, even away from the coast was hit hard. His parents live about 45 min. west of Savannah and lost a lot of trees (estimate is $8000 to get their yard cleared of trees). I would suggest getting gas before Macon and then when you get down to half tank, start watching the signs for the bigger stations like Loves, TA, Pilot, etc. If you have Gas Buddy app. it will tell you what is open and it's usually pretty accurate. You can also google gas available along I75 and there are couple of sites that list most of the stations.

As far as hotels, the further south you go in Georgia, the harder it's going to get to find something just because of the power issue and the evacuees. Orlando didn't get hit and I think after you get about a hour or two out of Georgia, it wasn't as bad.

So sorry to hear about your inlaws. I can only imagine how stressful it must be for all of you. Thank you too for your thoughts and insight. I will have to get the Gas Buddy app and make sure we fill up whenever we can.