‘Now is the time to stay home’: Hilton Head mayor updates on tropical storm
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Tropical Storm Debby
Tropical Storm Debby made landfall August 5 as Category 1 storm in Florida’s Big Bend region. As it moves up the Southeast Coast, the system could dump historic rainfall in Beaufort County.
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Hilton Head Island’s emergency team is preparing for heavy rainfall, flooding and road closures as Tropical Storm Debby makes its way up the southeast coast.
At a Monday morning press conference, Mayor Alan Perry said he was concerned residents wouldn’t take the storm seriously because it isn’t expected to bring as heavy winds as previous weather events. He encouraged residents to stock up on food and water, stay off roads and secure their homes. The town has increased its emergency staffing and spoken with water and electricity utilities ahead of the predicted extreme rainfall.
“This one is different,” Perry said of the storm. “It doesn’t bring a lot of the things that we see with some of the other storms, but it does bring something we haven’t seen, and that is a tremendous amount of rainfall.”
The storm made landfall over Florida’s Big Bend region at 7 a.m. Monday as a Category 1 hurricane. Four hours later, the system was downgraded to a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Forecasters expect the Lowcountry to see extreme rain impact Monday night, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, the rain impact from the tropical system will be heavy. Hilton Head is expected to get up to 20 inches of rain, with the possibility of local amounts of up to 30 inches through Thursday.
“Now is the time to stay home,” said Perry, warning residents to stay off the roads. If it isn’t the wind that brings trees down, the flooding might, he said.
“When that ground gets saturated, trees will fall,” Perry said. “Power lines may pop, and drainage may pop. Waterlines may pop.”
Perry advised businesses to close this week, allowing employees to stay home during the storm.
Will the bridges close?
The South Carolina Department of Transportation decides whether to close on the Hilton Parkway corridor, including the U.S. 278 bridges to Hilton Head Island. Currently, they are open. When asked Emergency Manager Tom Dunn said that is a possibility.
“We hope not,” Emergency Manager Tom Dunn said. “But yes, that is a valid possibility.”
He said if that does happen, “we’re prepared,” with resources on the island until the bridges are safe to cross.
Will roads be closed?
“If we get flooding, roads will essentially close themselves,” said Perry, explaining that the town will do their best to post closures to social media and their website.
Will emergency vehicles be able to get to residents?
If the storm winds reach 50 to 55 miles per hour at a sustained rate, “we have to begin to park vehicles and not send them out,” Dunn said.
If vehicles can’t move through roadways because of flooding, the town has a team of three boats with six people that will step in.
“They’re strategically placed around the island,” Dunn said.
Where is the nearest shelter?
The nearest emergency shelter is 250 Jaguar Trail in Ridgeland, South Carolina.
Will water and electric be impacted?
Perry said he has spoken with electric and water utility companies and “they’re all very confident and prepared to address whatever comes along.”
Of water, Perry said: “The public service districts are confident in their system to be able to provide water. They’re more concerned about the sewer capacity.”
Of electricity, Perry said that if winds reach speeds of over 35 miles per hour, Palmetto Electric will not send crews over the bridge. Since Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Palmetto Electric has improved its power systems on the island by raising them above the flood zone level, he added.
“They should not have an issue,” he said. “They are prepared with all the materials if necessary.”
Palmetto Electric Cooperative representatives, which serve all of Hilton Head, said that anyone who experiences an outage in the next few days should report it.
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published August 5, 2024 at 1:22 PM.
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