Hurricane Irma Evacuees Can Camp At Lake Lanier

CARTERSVILLE, GA – Campers will be allowed to stay at Lake Lanier, Lake Allatoona and Carters Lake as evacuees from Hurricane Irma head north out of Florida, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said Friday. Evacuees will have space for travel trailers, campers, or tents at the campgrounds, but they will need to provide their own equipment and supplies, as none will be made available.

Temporary, short-term camping will be available for displaced people, with extensions to normal stay policies issued on an individual basis, officials said.

Those seeking space should be prepared to provide proof of their status as an evacuee and basic identifying information. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

For more information about camping facilities in the Corps' Mobile District visit their website.

SEE ALSO: Hurricane Irma: 'Freight Train' Of A Storm Barrels Toward Florida, Georgia, Carolinas

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On Thursday, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal issued a mandatory evacuation for coastal areas east of Interstate 95. The evacuation becomes mandatory on Saturday — when "contraflow" measures will turn all lanes on Interstate 16 into westbound lanes headed toward Macon and Atlanta.

Hurricane Irma headed further westward overnight and weakened slightly, offering a glimmer of hope to residents of coastal Georgia even as an estimated half-million people began evacuating the area. But the deadly storm, which remained a dangerous Category 4 as it churned between Cuba and the Bahamas Friday morning, still had Georgia in its sights and, regardless of where it eventually makes landfall in the continental U.S., will almost certainly roll into the Peach State by weekend's end.

Analysis: Irma's 'Cone Of Uncertainty' Is Massive

Still packing maximum sustained winds of 150 m.p.h., Irma was about 80 miles northeast of the Cuban coast at 8 a.m. Friday and sitting 450 miles southeast of Miami. It was moving west-northwest at 16 m.p.h.

Patch file photo of Lake Lanier