‘Stay home,’ Beaufort Co. officials warn as Hurricane Michael may bring tornadoes, flooding

“Stay home” seemed to be county officials’ main message to Beaufort County residents Wednesday afternoon.

As the Category 4 storm makes landfall in Florida and the county remains under a tropical storm warning, officials are preparing for what they think will be “a 12-hour event,” Sheriff P.J. Tanner said in a news conference.

Tanner said the largest weather threats — including tornadoes and wind gusts — will be between 4 a.m. and 4 p.m. Thursday.

”If you can stay home, we would like for you to stay home between this 12-hour window,” Tanner said.

He encouraged people who still intend to travel to avoid from low-lying areas, off bridges, and away from trees.

“We’ve been very fortunate with the last three storms that have skirted us and we have not experienced the direct landfall ... but we are going to have impacts so we’re going to have to prepare for them,” said Lt. Col. Neil Baxley, commander of the Sheriff’s Office’s Emergency Management Division.

Beaufort County has already started feeling the storm’s effects from a road closure on U.S. 278 on Hilton Head Tuesday night due to flooding and three kids being saved from rip currents early Wednesday afternoon, Baxley said.

Just after noon, two 9-year-olds and a 15-year-old who were being pulled out to sea while boogie boarding on Hilton Head were rescued by lifeguards.

“There’s a reason for the warnings,” Baxley said. “... Fortunately this has ended well, but it could have ended differently.”

He said looking to Thursday, officials are most concerned about tornadoes, strong winds, and flooding.

Baxley advised tornadoes will form and dissipate so fast that there may not be any warning sent out, but they could still cause significant damage.

He advised there will also probably be periodic road closings as well due to flash flooding.

As of Wednesday afternoon, all bridges in the county were open to road traffic and officials did not plan to close them, Baxley said. He added that could change at a moment’s notice.

Beaufort County offices and schools, as well as town and cities offices will be closed Thursday.

“Hopefully everything will pass through tomorrow with minimal damage and we’ll be able to reopen on Friday,” Tanner said.

The Sheriff’s Office will continue to send out updates as Beaufort County braces the storm, Sheriff Tanner said.

This story was originally published October 10, 2018 at 2:07 PM.