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Tree down on 278; SUV ends up in lagoon; caution urged as water collects on roadways
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- Photo: Bluffton firefighters work to remove the wreckage of a vehicle and the tree that fell on it from U.S. 278 in greater Bluffton on Thursday afternoon, backing up westbound traffic just before rush hour. Driver Laverne Ballard said she had no time to react when she saw the tree, weakened by wind and rain from Tropical Storm Fay, coming down. Ballard was unhurt, but her dog, Gumbo, was injured and rushed to the vet for surgery. Gumbo is expected to survive.
Jay Karr/The Island Packet
Today’s heavy rains associated with Tropical Storm Fay’s bands is making driving hazardous today, with a tree falling across U.S. 278 in greater Bluffton and an SUV driving into a lagoon on Hilton Head Island.
The tree fell across U.S. 278 east at the Best Buy shopping center around 3:15 p.m. and is blocking eastbound traffic as workers attempt to remove it. Traffic is backing up and is being directed around the tree by way of the entrance to Best Buy.
Just before the tree fell, the driver of an SUV accidentally ended up in a lagoon behind Port Royal Plaza on Hilton Head this afternoon.
The driver went through a puddle of water and became disoriented. Heavy rains prevented the driver from seeing well, and he drove into the lagoon at the employee parking lot behind the shopping center off Oak Park Drive near Mathews Drive.
- Photo: Hector Moreno retrieves some belongings from his submerged vehicle Thursday. During a period of heavy rain, Morano’s vision was hampered by the heavy rain, losing his way and putting him into a pond off of Oak Park Drive near the new roundabout on Mathews Drive.
Kristin Goode/The Island Packet
Rescue workers were removing the vehicle from the pond this afternoon around 3:30 p.m. The car was submerged up to the steering wheel.
The driver and his 11-year-old son, both of Hilton Head, were not injured.
As of 1 p.m., Beaufort County has collected about .65 inches in rainfall today, according to a meteorologist.
- Photo: Hector Moreno, 38, (left) and his 11-year-old son Edgar try to dry out as a Beaufort County Deputy makes sure they are okay and checks for insurance and other paperwork. The Morenos accidently drove into a pond off of Oak Park Drive on Hilton Head Island during driving rains.
Gerald Weaver
- Photo: Chuck Padgett, owner of Advance Automotive and Towing, works to remove a vehicle from a lagoon by a parking area off of Oak Park Drive on Thursday.
Kristin Goode/The Island Packet
- Photo: A vehicle plows through some standing water on Highway 278 on Hilton Head Island after a heavy downpour Thursday afternoon. The area is under a flash flood watch until Friday evening as tropical storm Fay spins off the coast.
Jonathan Dyer/The Island Packet
- Photo: A jogger slows to a walk and works his way through the debris that came along with heavy bands of rain and wind from Tropical Storm Fay at Burkes Beach on Hilton Head Island Thursday afternoon.
Jonathan Dyer/The Island Packet
- Photo: A group of swimmers were brave enough to battle the heavy surf at Burkes Beach on Hilton Head Island Thursday morning. Tropical Storm Fay brought heavy rain, high winds, and rough surf as bands crossed the area throughout the day.
Jonathan Dyer/The Island Packet
- Photo: Mike Davis walks through some standing water that was left behind after a heavy rain band passed over the notheend of Hilton Head Island Thursday morning. Davis said the surf was rough and was ready to call it a day after spending a couple hours in the water.
Jonathan Dyer/The Island Packet
- Photo: The area kitesurfing community is one group of people who are actually enjoying the high winds and waves generated by Tropical Storm Fay. One of those is island kitesurfing instructor Shay Siegel, who looked more like a surfer as he rode a wave off Folly Field Beach Park on Wednesday evening.
Jay Karr/The Island Packet
The rain is expected to continue through Friday, dropping slightly more than 2 inches across the county, said senior meteorologist Brian Wimer with Accuweather.com.
The storm has also been churning up the surf off Hilton Head, leading to waves of 4 to 7 feet, and the beach is under a surf advisory until 6 p.m. Friday. Beach erosion and coastal flooding are also concerns.
Tropical Storm Fay is along Florida’s east coast about 15 miles northeast of Daytona Beach and is moving westward across Florida, where it is expected to deteriorate into tropical depression and eventually head into Alabama and Mississippi.
Periodic heavy rain is expected in Beaufort County, but most of the storm should remain south of the area, Wimer said.
The storms have caused ponding, or slight flooding, in some areas in the county.
Wimer said if drivers see water on the road, they should slow down and try to move around the puddle to avoid hydroplaning or loss of vehicle control.
“Be very cautious driving through it,” he said. “Especially at night, it can be deeper than it looks.”
For more on this story, see Friday’s Island Packet and continue to return to islandpacket.com.
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