By Heather Ruppe
Hurricane Ian caused some minor damage in Colleton County on Sept. 30th, as it made landfall and wreaked havoc near Myrtle Beach in coastal South Carolina.
Ian landed near Georgetown at about 2:05 p.m. on Sept. 30th as a category one hurricane, bringing maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane destroyed property in Pawleys Island, Litchfield Beach and throughout Horry County, bringing tremendous flooding and downed trees. Its landing in South Carolina was the fourth documented time that Hurricane Ian made landfall since first battering the Florida coastline, as the storm bore across Florida and then went back to sea before coming ashore again.
Locally, emergency officials and rescue personnel report that multiple trees came down, as a result of the storm’s winds and heavy rains in Colleton County.
“We had one tree fall on a house. There were no reported injuries, and no major flooding. In all, we are very fortunate,” said Colleton County Fire-Rescue Chief Barry McRoy.
According to McRoy, there was no major flooding in the county. This includes Edisto Beach- the coastal community of Edisto Beach normally experiences significant erosion and damage from flooding, especially during a tropical storm or hurricane.
“Luckily for us, it went north,” said McRoy, referring to Hurricane Ian. “Edisto Beach had some minor flooding, and no storm surge was reported.
“The SCDOT, our county officials and the power companies have done a great job,” he added. “Thanks to our SCDOT, Colleton County Public Works, and ESF-12 (Energy) partners, all of the damage reports have been cleared.”
From Friday, Sept. 30th, when the hurricane made landfall, through Saturday, October 1st, McRoy says there were 72 total reports of damage in Colleton County. “Most of these were trees blocking roads, or power lines that were knocked down,” he said.
As of Saturday, Oct. 1st, there were fewer than 800 power outages reported in Colleton County, as a result of Hurricane Ian.
