On a scale of 1-10, Columbus emergency management Director Chance Corbett was bracing for Hurricane Helene to hit the area as an 8-10 storm when Thursday night became Friday morning.
City officials prepared to respond to the predicted potential of catastrophic damage from Hurricane Helene. After all, it had strengthened to a Category 4 storm as it approached the Big Bend in Florida, and weather forecasters estimated Columbus would be in its path.
But around 6 a.m., when the storm had departed the local area after taking a more easterly direction through Georgia, Corbett breathed a sigh of relief. He said the effects of Hurricane Helene on Columbus amounted to a 1 on that scale of 1-10…