Watch the clock! Hurricane Irma brings a curfew to parts of Beaufort County

Some of Beaufort County will be under a curfew beginning Saturday night, county Sheriff P.J. Tanner announced at a press conference Saturday afternoon.

The curfew will run from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday for barrier islands under the evacuation order, Tanner said. He announced the curfew at a 6:30 p.m. news conference Saturday.

The Sheriff’s Office stopped letting people on to Hilton Head, Daufuskie, Harbor, Fripp and Hunting islands at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Tanner said even with the curfew, deputies will be understanding of people out on Saturday night.

“We understand that in certain areas that are under evacuation order, there are going to be people out and about because they didn’t know we are going to have a curfew,” Tanner said. “They are probably some restaurants and bars still open. We are going to be working with these folks.”

There was potential for flooding in Beaufort County with the 12:30 p.m. high tide Saturday, Tanner said.

“It was a good indicator to us that we are going to have some problems in the low lying areas,” Tanner said. “If you are a low lying area and you get cut off based on flooding — than we have a problem. It is going to be hard to get you to a hospital if you are in low lying area.”

Officials said they will continue to respond to emergency calls as they can throughout the storm. They said it is possible they won’t be able to respond to calls if wind levels are too high.

This story was originally published September 9, 2017 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Watch the clock! Hurricane Irma brings a curfew to parts of Beaufort County."