Though officials urged residents to prepare by securing their homes, finding valuables and locating personal documents, some were taking a wait-and-see attitude. In Alabama, many tourists and residents were taking a wait-and-see attitude, and were more focused on the upcoming Labor Day weekend.
"We plan to sit in a bar and watch the whole thing," joked Greg Lee, a tourist from Clarksville, Tenn. He was grocery shopping with family members, stocking up on cold beverages and planning to stay through the holiday at their beach house at Fort Morgan, down a beach road from Gulf Shores.
Hurricane-seasoned officials also were hoping for the chance forecasts were wrong. Joey Durel, president of Lafayette's city and parish governments, said officials in that south-central Louisiana community may begin handing out sandbags to residents as early as Friday - but hoped they wouldn't need them.
"We're glad to see we're in the (forecast) path because they never get it right this far out," Durel said. "I say that slightly tongue in cheek, but it's true."
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