ATLANTA — Colquitt County in South Georgia is now under a state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Irma, yet Roswell High School’s football team still traveled there Friday for a football game, and some parents aren’t happy about it.
Cindy Stetson told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik her daughter, a varsity cheerleader, got word early Friday the game was canceled because of concerns about evacuation traffic on I-75.
“Phew. We all breathed a sigh of relief,” she said.
Then, mid-morning, she was shocked to get a text from her daughter saying the game was back on schedule after Colquitt County agreed to fuel up the team bus, provide them a meal, and provide a police escort from Moultrie to Roswell.
“I was stunned and appalled that they would offer these resources that I think should be stockpiled for hurricane evacuees and that our county would accept it,” Stetson said.
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In an email, Fulton County school spokeswoman Susan Hale told Petchenik what the school’s principal relayed to her:
“Dr. (Robert) Shaw’s initial concerns were with students being potentially stuck on the highway in thick traffic as they returned from Colquitt County and the ability to refuel the buses amidst a possible fuel shortage. The concern was not about weather since it is not expected to hit Colquitt County until early next week, long after the game is over…Dr. Shaw called the Colquitt County principal this morning about his travel and refueling concerns and to cancel the game. The principal called him back and said that they would refuel the buses, provide a meal for the Roswell students, and then provide a police escort all the way back to Roswell so they would not be impacted by traffic. Those remedied Dr. Shaw’s concerns and the game was put back on.”
Hale told Petchenik the plan was for the team buses to use back roads so they wouldn’t affect evacuees making their way north on I-75.
Stetson said she thinks Colquitt County is wasting resources that could be diverted to those who need them during Hurricane Irma.
“We don’t need to be clogging up the roads using unnecessary fuel and other resources for a football game,” she said. "I’m sorry, but in the general scheme of things, it’s not a priority.”
Stetson’s daughter made the trip to support the team, but she said she wasn’t happy about the use of resources either.
“If I were a taxpayer in Colquitt County I’d be asking a lot of questions,” said Stetson. “I would have hoped the adults in charge, in both counties, would have made better choices.”
Cox Media Group
