Wednesday, Sept. 15, 4:47 p.m.

Conditions in Greenville have remained stable enough to avoid drastic action as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.

So far Hurricane Ivan has moved as expected on its path to the Gulf Coast. While poor weather conditions and high winds have picked up in Mobile and the surrounding area Greenville remains in a wait and see mode.

Though Hurricane Ivan has not made its way to Butler County yet some possible threatening conditions could be on their way soon. Butler County has been placed under a tornado watch until 2 a.m.

It is not uncommon for conditions such as tornadoes to accompany, precede or follow hurricanes inland. Citizens are encouraged to use extreme caution. Just because the hurricane has not arrived does not mean everything is okay.

No major steps have been necessary in the afternoon however. Butler County Emergency Planner Bob Luman said, as of 4 p.m. there had been no evacuations.

&uot;There haven’t been any evacuations that I know of yet,&uot; said Luman. &uot;We will just have to wait and see.&uot;

Luman said the storm might be moving a bit to the west, which could impact winds.

&uot;It looks like it moved further to the west,&uot; said Luman. &uot;That could lessen the amount of wind we get. We can’t really tell right now. We just have to wait and see how things go.&uot;

Both the Georgiana and Greenville National Guard armories remain open as storm shelters. Luman said people had not begun to crowd the shelters yet.

&uot;At last count there weren’t many people in them,&uot; said Luman. &uot;We’ll have to wait and see what happens tonight.&uot;

Citizens continue to be advised to use common sense and take shelter before possible deadly conditions arrive.