Will Hunting Island State Park reopen on Friday?

Hunting Island State Park was scheduled to reopen Friday for the first time since Hurricane Matthew.

But Mother Nature has struck again, and now the park is flooding.

Friends of Hunting Island president Denise Parsick said she’s not sure if the park will be safe for visitors in time for the holiday weekend.

“The entrance is under high water,” Parsick said Wednesday. “And Parking Lot A looks like a pond, from what I’ve been told.”

Parsick said she hasn’t gotten word from park manager Daniel Gambrell yet on whether the park as planned Friday.

A call to the visitor’s center by a newspaper reporter Wednesday afternoon was not answered.

“We’re all just playing a waiting game,” Parsick said. “We waited seven months and now we’re waiting again. Mother Nature rules.”

What she does know, she said, is not even the Turtle Patrol was allowed on the island Wednesday morning.

Stormy weather has kept volunteers off of Hunting Island all week.

The Friends group had planned to host volunteer work days on Monday and Wednesday, but both were canceled due to weather, Parsick said.

Rain also kept the volunteers off the island Tuesday.

The Lowcountry has been saturated by rain and thunderstorms since Sunday.

Some of those storms turned severe, even producing a tornado near Tybee Island in Georgia.

The planned work days were part of an effort to get Hunting Island State Park reopened for Memorial Day weekend.

Much of the state park was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in October, and has remain closed since. Bathroom facilities, the campground and parking were included in the damage.

Friends of Hunting Island planned a divide and conquer approach this week. Four teams were to be deployed to paint the lighthouse fence, build 300 picnic tables and clear the trails.

The park’s opening wasn’t dependent on that cleanup work, Parsick said. “We would have liked to get it done before the park reopened, but they were mostly cosmetic fixes or safety for the sea turtles.”

Storms are expected to be out of the area by Thursday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

The holiday weekend’s forecast shows sunny skies and temperatures in the low- to mid-80s.

It is unclear whether the organization will be able to reschedule before the end of the week.

“We’re just hoping this is the end of the rain,” Parsick said.

This story was originally published May 24, 2017 at 9:48 AM with the headline "Will Hunting Island State Park reopen on Friday?."