Beaufort County residents grabbed thousands of sandbags ahead of Florence. Now what?

Beaufort County residents stocked up on thousands of sandbags last week ahead of expected flooding from Hurricane Florence that never came.

The storm crept north and brushed the area with only light winds and scattered rain.

Now what? The sandbags should be kept in case of another storm, officials say.

The city of Beaufort distributed more than 5,000 sandbags last week to residents wary of flooded homes and garages after Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and the rising water from Irma last year. Others bought bags from Lowe’s or local landscape suppliers.

Those with unused sandbags that haven’t been in contact with contaminated water can store them away from the sun and rain and expect them to last a year or more, Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Chief Reece Bertholf said. He suggested people keep the bags until at least the end of hurricane season through November.

“This time of year there could be a need for them in the next couple of weeks to a month,” he said.

Residents who want to get rid of the bags should empty them in their yard or a garden bed before throwing them away, Bertholf said. If there is flooding or people otherwise want to return their bags after the threat of storms has passes, the city will re-evaluate.

Numerous downtown Beaufort businesses had boarded up windows and left the bags at their door amid the uncertainty of Hurricane Florence’s track.

The storm surge during Irma in 2017 had pushed water higher than city officials could remember, including numerous businesses that flooded with several inches of water. Bluffton, Hilton Head and the barrier islands also experienced heavy flooding.

And so when when Beaufort publicized its free sandbags, cars lined up from throughout the county. But Florence didn’t bring the same surge.

In Myrtle Beach, the city hosted a sandbag exchange for residents to return the bags to deliver to protect the western part of the county from flooding.

This story was originally published September 18, 2018 at 8:40 AM.