Hurricane preparations: Fill prescriptions, lower sails ... buy a pool float?

Steve Stanforth is worried about Hurricane Matthew’s political orientation.

“We have decided it’s a liberal storm, because it keeps moving to the left,” Stanforth, manager of Lady’s Island Marina, joked Tuesday morning.

“We need a conservative storm,” he said, “so it’ll move to the right.”

The right — farther out to sea, farther away from the Lowcountry’s coastline — would be a better scenario for Stanforth, boats and boaters at his marina and residents of Beaufort County. But the National Hurricane Center and forecast models show the storm’s track shifting left — west.

The hurricane, which made landfall this morning in Haiti as a Category 4 storm, could be downgraded to a Category 2 by the time it reaches our area. But it’s too early to tell, the National Weather Service said, and the storm is staying “consistently strong” as it moves through the Caribbean.

As the county braces for Matthew — what “could be one of the worst storms we’ve seen in South Carolina in years,” according to weather service meteorologist Michael Stroz — here’s how people are preparing.

‘If you can go, go’

Burke’s Main Street Pharmacy on Hilton Head Island is “clicking on all cylinders,” co-owner David Burke said.

“People have got to have their medicine, so we’re moving here,” he said. Ahead of the storm he’s seen an uptick in customers, some of whom are already evacuating inland.

And Burke is encouraging people to leave.

“Fill up your medication and go,” he said.

Essential medications include those for blood pressure, heart conditions and diabetes — “must-have medications” such as these comprise about 30 to 40 percent of the prescriptions his pharmacy fills, Burke said.

Area nursing homes are making preparations to evacuate, he said, and area hospitals are starting to discharge non-critical patients.

“If you can go, go,” he said. “Take an inventory of what (medications) you have and get out of Dodge.”

Beer and steaks

David Martin, owner of Hilton Head’s Piggly Wiggly, isn’t stocking anything extra ahead of the storm.

In fact, he’ll be out of the country on vacation — fishing in Panama — when, and if, it hits.

“My business and my business plan are a little bit different because I’m in a tourist-oriented area,” Martin said. And so he’s stocked up on “the true staples of vacation.”

Beer. Wine. Hamburgers. Steaks.

Vacationing golfers have come into his store on the south end of the island saying they were going to try and fit in as much golf as possible. And Martin talked to a 9-year-old from Knoxville, Tenn., who saved up her money to buy a $13 float so she could enjoy her time in the pool.

“We had a long discussion about which one” — alligator or shark — “would float better,” Martin said, adding the girl opted for the alligator.

North of the Broad River, people are preparing a bit differently.

“A lot of customers are just preparing, getting a lot of water and canned goods,” said Willie Paz, manager of the Food Lion on Sams Point Road in Beaufort.

“We’ve seen a lift on (water, bread, milk and eggs), but nobody’s in panic mode yet,” he said.

Worries and bad news

Home Depot in Bluffton has seen more customers ahead of Matthew, according to assistant manager Chris Partridge.

“What we’re seeing is definitely a lot of customers worried about the storm coming in,” he said.

There have been “more inquiries” on items like generators, he said, and the store will set up a “weather preparedness table” in the next day or so with items like batteries, flashlights and shop vacuums.

“As we set that up we’ll actually be able to see better what’s needed,” he said.

Meanwhile at Lady’s Island Marina, Stanforth said boaters are lowering their sails and strapping down loose items on their decks. Some owners have already moved their boats, he said, adding that if the storm hits the county as a Category 3, all boats would have to be relocated.

“It’s actually safer (that way),” he said.

“This morning we had good news: It might be a (Category 2) by the time it gets here,” he said.

“The bad news is it’s closer.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Hurricane preparations: Fill prescriptions, lower sails ... buy a pool float?."