Gov. McMaster holds 2nd briefing on recovery from Ian: ‘South Carolina stood strong’

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – Governor Henry McMaster and state leaders held a second Saturday briefing on the state’s restoration from Ian, this time in Georgetown.

The briefing was on the Beck Recreation Middle and featured leaders from the Lowcountry, Grand Strand and the state’s division of transportation.

Ian, which was a class one hurricane on the time, made landfall close to Georgetown simply after 2 p.m. Friday. Georgetown and Horry County have been a few of the hardest hit areas by the storm.

Christy Corridor, the state’s secretary of transportation, mentioned it’ll take a pair extra days to totally end clearing particles round Pawleys Island and Backyard Metropolis.

“And so as soon as daylight got here proper right here, we pushed into Pawleys [Island] and Backyard Metropolis fairly rapidly and in the event you’ve been in these areas ever during the last a number of hours, it’s very apparent that it’s all palms on deck and full drive at making an attempt to guarantee that we’re eradicating that sand and particles,” Corridor mentioned. [The] causeways are clear now we’re engaged on the principle roads within the space to get these cleared..”

In the course of the afternoon briefing, McMaster mentioned state and county leaders have been ready for the storm.

“And I proceed to suppose that we have now the perfect group within the nation relating to issues like this, in addition to the perfect regulation enforcement,” McMaster mentioned. “So this can be a good day. We all know that some individuals misplaced some issues, we all know some property was broken and we all know that some schedules have been upended. However, on the finish of the day, South Carolina stood sturdy.”

The governor additionally mentioned there have been no deaths associated to Hurricane Ian hitting South Carolina.

Hours after the briefing, McMaster toured Pawleys Island for harm and visited what was left of the pier.

Earlier briefing:

Earlier within the day, McMaster and his “Workforce South Carolina” spoke from the state’s Emergency Operations Middle in West Columbia.

Nationwide Climate Service Meteorologist John Quagliariello was one of many first audio system and spoke about how Hurricane Ian affected the state.

“So all of these sturdy winds introduced down a major quantity of bushes, at the same time as far inland because the Midlands of South Carolina,” Quagliariello mentioned. “A storm surge was important alongside the parts of Georgetown and Laurie County coasts. The tide at Springmaid Pier in Myrtle Seashore reached its highest to its third highest worth on report, solely surpassed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and Matthew in 2016.”

Hurricane Ian, which devastated parts of Florida after making landfall as a Class 4 Hurricane this week, made landfall simply south of Georgetown at 2:05 p.m. Friday.

The storm introduced sturdy winds, battering rain, and left 1000’s with out energy for a number of hours.

Governor Henry McMaster spoke on the damages which have been sustained from the storm and praised the efforts of emergency responders.

“I’d love to do some thanks’s. We all know that we have now a lot cleansing up and rebuilding to do. Most of us have seen the images, significantly on the Grand Strand,” McMaster mentioned. “We had a variety of water. The northwest nook of our state didn’t expertise the storm very a lot in any respect, however the remainder of us did, however we had no storm-related deaths. We had no hospitals broken. Our water programs have been and are okay. We had only some mobile issues…I don’t suppose we’ve ever seen such group and speedy providers we noticed there. I additionally need to thank the 1000’s of first responders. And that features the utility linesman that I’ve talked about, the county officers who’ve been working across the clock, metropolis officers and mayors who’ve been doing the identical factor.”

South Carolina’s Emergency Administration Division Director Kim Stenson additionally spoke on the briefing and talked about emergency operations facilities and the transition from response to restoration operations.

“Given the present state of affairs we anticipate all County Emergency Operations Facilities to transition to again to regular state operations at this time, with ongoing emphasis on harm evaluation and cleanup operations,” Stenson mentioned. “The State Emergency Operations Middle will even transition from response to restoration operations later at this time as properly.”

Mike Leach, State Director for the South Carolina Division of Social Companies, gave an replace on shelters within the Lowcountry and the quantity of people who sheltered throughout the storm.

“We had 5 shelters open with a inhabitants of 121 shoppers in Charleston, Jasper, Orangeburg, and Waynesburg Counties,” Leach mentioned. “At 12 midday, Charleston presently has one basic inhabitants shelter open in Charleston County, with a complete inhabitants of 9. This shelter in all probability can be closed round 4 o’clock at this time.”

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