‘Friday is a critical day’: Sheriff’s Office talks evacuation, re-entry

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office held a news conference in Beaufort on Thursday afternoon to discuss evacuation and re-entry for Hurricane Irma.

Irma, a category 5 hurricane on Thursday, is expected to reach South Carolina late Monday afternoon, but effects — including intense wind — will be felt as early as Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston. The storm’s projected path did make a slight shift west, making it possible that it could travel up the length of Florida and be weakened by the time the storm reaches Beaufort County, but it will remain uncertain until the storm is almost at the Lowcountry’s doorstep.

A slight shift could keep the storm along the coast with potential for it to maintain its strength. However Irma reaches the area, it is still expected to be a hurricane-level storm.

Evacuation

“Friday is a critical day for us,” Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said during the news conference. Officials are encouraging residents to evacuate as soon as they are able to, even ahead of a pending evacuation order on Saturday.

Evacuations will begin between about 7 and 10 a.m. Saturday, Tanner said. Local evacuation routes will be U.S. 278 and U.S. 21, which will be channeled into three parallel routes north.

Lt. Col. Neil Baxley stressed that once Saturday hits, evacuation routes will be the only options to get out of town. Anyone planning to leave town by another route will need to leave before the evacuation begins.

“If you want to leave, if you’re ready to leave, you need to leave now,” Baxley said Thursday afternoon.

Routes and places to stay along the way are limited and crowded with simultaneous evacuations from Florida and Georgia, Tanner said. There were already reports of increased traffic on Thursday, he said.

On Friday, health care facilities will begin to evacuate patients out of the region, and residents should consider doing the same.

The 400 or so residents of Daufuskie Island will have until Sunday to get off the island by way of the ferries. The very last ferry will be at noon Sunday, with no exceptions, Baxley said. There will be no fee for the ferries once the evacuation order is in place, and ferries will continue a normal schedule through Saturday.

Shelters run by the American Red Cross will be set up in Hampton, Colleton, Jasper, Allendale and Barnwell counties, Baxley said. They cannot accept pets.

Palmetto Breeze buses will be available to transport residents from all over Beaufort County to these shelters. A wristband will be given to each rider when boarding the evacuation bus, which will coordinate with their return bus, Baxley said.

Re-entry

A timeline for re-entry will not be determined until county officials are able to assess the amount of damage from Hurricane Irma, the sheriff said.

“Category 3 impacts are going to be tremendous,” Tanner said. “This storm is offering a heck of a lot more damage than what Matthew gave us.”

Some Beaufort County residents and employees will be able to return sooner than others. Those who serve in life-saving roles or who work in positions that immediately support live-saving efforts will the first to arrive. That group will include workers who clear power lines and main roadways to make way for emergency vehicles.

“We’ve been absolutely inundated with people wanting re-entry passes,” Baxley said.

More than 5,600 individuals have been given these green cards, which are not the same as state-issued re-entry passes, Tanner explained. Passes from the state for business owners will not allow carriers to enter immediately, but there may be a similar model to Hurricane Matthew re-entry allowing owners of businesses such as restaurants and grocery stores in directly after emergency workers and their support system, he said.

For complete local hurricane coverage, visit http://www.islandpacket.com/news/weather/hurricane/.

This story was originally published September 7, 2017 at 6:59 PM with the headline "‘Friday is a critical day’: Sheriff’s Office talks evacuation, re-entry."