Horry County hurricane evacuation routes have been tested and properly marked. Here’s the plan.
South Carolina’s 35 hurricane evacuation routes, emergency communications network and early warning systems have been tested and are in place as state leaders prepare for what’s expected to be an abnormally busy storm season, Gov. Henry McMaster announced Friday.
“The price of living in paradise is that we have to abide by what nature sends our way,” McMaster said in Conway during the first stop of a statewide flyover through hurricane-prone areas. He visited Beaufort and Charleston later in the day.
Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and runs through Nov. 30. A typical year carries 14 names storms but meteorologists have already labeled 22 of them, and the National Weather Service said last month there’s a 70 percent chance of three to six major hurricanes making landfall with sustained winds of at least 111 mph.
“The good news is, if there is good news, is that we’re well prepared,” McMaster said.
State emergency response officials began planning in February, conducting tabletop exercises to coordinate evacuation orders and test lane reversals.
A full-scale field test will take place June 9 on Interstate 26 in the Midlands, U.S. 501 and S.C. 544 in the Grand Strand and on U.S 21 and 278 in the Lowcountry, though no traffic impacts are expected from the exercise, officials said Friday.
The state Emergency Management Department’s website contains a hurricane guide and “know your zone” feature that allows people to determine which evacuation route is safest for them to use.
“We’ve ridden all 35 routes, confirmed all are in good shape and have proper signs to alert our motorists and visitors how to get safely inland,” said Rob Perry, a traffic management engineer with the S.C. Department of Transportation.
As Horry County knows well, it’s not just the direct hit from a storm that poses a risk. In 2018, waters from Hurricane Florence battered thousands of homes in the region, causing more than $40 million worth of damage as part of an overall economic cost of about $2 billion.
“We’re probably very likely to have some kind of hurricane activity in South Carolina this year,” the state’s top emergency management official, Kim Stenson, said on Friday. “Everybody needs to take heed of flooding problems regardless of whether you’re on the coast or not.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2022 at 12:36 PM.