Lady’s Island man finds dangerous sinkhole under road, blocks traffic until help arrives
A water main break washed out a section of a Lady’s Island Road early Wednesday, creating a potentially perilous crossing for unsuspecting drivers in the pre-dawn dark.
But before any driver reached the flimsy area of Sams Point Road, just before the Coosaw Island Bridge, local resident Timothy Green discovered the washout deep under the road. It was still dark when Green headed outside to investigate, he said; he and his wife live near the road in an RV parked on land where they are building a house.
Green said his wife woke up in the middle of the night and realized the water wasn’t working.
“I credit my wife with telling me to get up,” Green said.
Outside, Green said he heard water pouring into the inlet. He walked up to the road.
“The road was wet on the top and I walked to the other side and there was a big sinkhole under road 10 or 15 feet across,” Green said. “The only thing still hanging on the top was asphalt.”
Any driver who would have crossed the washed out road at that point may have crashed, Green said. Green grabbed an old police flashlight he keeps in his truck and stood in the middle of the road to alert drivers. Fortunately, only one driver came along — a woman on her way to work at Parker’s. “I got her to stop,” Green said.
Green also called 911. It wasn’t long before Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, Lady’s Island-St. Helena Fire Department and Beaufort Jasper Water and Sewer Authority and others were on the scene.
Several hundred residents of Coosaw Island lost water during the event. One lane of traffic remained open for a small stretch, and water access had been restored by late morning.
But major work to repair Sams Point Road near the Coosaw River Bridge remained.
The Sheriff’s Office reported at 6:13 a.m. that a sinkhole was discovered near at 1020 Sams Point Road, just before the Coosaw River Bridge. The bridge connects Lady’s Island with Coosaw Island, which is home to about 500 families. It is part of SC 802, known locally as Sams Point Road, which is the principal arterial for Lady’s Island and the only access road to Coosaw Island.
Rand Thacker, who lives on Coosaw Island, said an 8-inch water main failed, causing water to wash out material underneath one lane of Sams Point Road near the bridge over the river towards Coosaw.
“We’re doing fine,” Thacker told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet at 10 a.m. Wednesday. “We’ve got water back on. We just have to boil it for drinking water now. That will probably have to last for a day or two.”
One lane of traffic was reopened at about 6:45 a.m., allowing traffic to continue between the two islands. The bridge was not affected, just Sams Point Road west of the bridge, Thacker said.
“It washed out underneath completely one lane of the road,” Thacker said.
People are still able to get to the Sams Point boat landing, Thacker noted.
This story was originally published March 4, 2026 at 8:46 AM.
