For 2nd time in 8 years, storm batters Port Royal boardwalk. When will it reopen?
For the second time in eight years, rising waters from a tropical storm have sunk a section of the Battery Creek boardwalk in Port Royal. This time, it was continual waves from Helene, a storm that packed a bigger punch than expected. The surge overran the beloved walkway where locals and visitors watch dolphins and wading birds, fish and crab and view spectacular sunsets from an observation deck.
“We’ve rebuilt this section once before,” Town Manager Van Willis said Monday, “And we will rebuild again.”
In 2017, rising water during Tropical Storm Irma shoved the same section of the walkway into the marsh, leaving only the pilings protruding from the mud.
The section that has been damaged twice now stretches several hundred feet from the beginning of the boardwalk near the boat launch to a covered area.
The direction toward the channel the embattled section faces appears to make it vulnerable, Willis said.
Helene pushed through the region Friday morning, with its high winds snapping and twisting trees, knocking out power to tens of thousands and battering local waterfronts including the Port Royal boardwalk.
“Despite the fact we weren’t a direct hit,” Willis said, “I think everyone was a little surprised by the severity of the storm.”
On Sunday, a couple of chunks of the boardwalk planks and railings were sitting in the grasses of the salt marsh several hundred yards from the waterfront near the old beer garden where locals used to gather in the evenings for live entertainment.
The temporary loss of the significant local amenity will be deeply felt locally in the community of 16,000 residents but it’s also one of the area’s main visitor draws.
“It’s probably our top attraction so we’re going to do what we can to get it reopened as soon as we can,” Willis said, “but obviously it’s going to take some time.”
Willis estimates it will take four to six weeks to bid the work and make the repairs.
Damage caused by Helene could be as much as $100,000 but that’s just a rough estimate at this point, Willis said. The town is filing a claim with the Insurance Reserve Fund, its insurance carrier.
Although just one section was washed away, Willis said each section of the boardwalk and the observation tower will need to be evaluated “before we allow anybody near it.”
“The biggest thing is making sure it is structurally sound,” he said.
The town will also look at ways in which the durability of the boardwalk can be improved, Willis said.
This story was originally published September 30, 2024 at 12:44 PM.
