Beaufort County curfew to remain in effect tonight

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office this afternoon announced that a mandatory curfew will resume today at 7 p.m. and continue to 7 a.m. Sunday.

“It will be strictly enforced by law enforcement personnel and a decision whether or not to continue the curfew will be made tomorrow,” according to a department advisory. “There has been no assessment of damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure as of yet.”

In a separate advisory issued later, the Beaufort Police Department said its curfew would remain in effect from 7 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday.

The sheriff’s office, public works and fire service personnel have been deployed to “check roadways for hazards, such as downed power lines, trees and areas with unpassable flooding,” the sheriff’s office advisory said, adding that state transportation engineers are heading to the county to “check the post-hurricane structural integrity of our bridges.”

“The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office urges evacuees to heed Governor Haley's evacuation order in effect and not to return to Beaufort County until it is deemed safe to do so by officials,” the advisory said.

This story was originally published October 8, 2016 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Beaufort County curfew to remain in effect tonight."