Midlands closings, cancellations ahead of Hurricane Michael

Schools, organizations and businesses across South Carolina have announced plans to close Thursday ahead of Hurricane Michael.

The storm was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane early Wednesday and is expected to bring high winds and possible heavy rain to the Midlands area Thursday.

Closings

▪ The South Carolina State Fair will be closed Thursday.

▪ Riverbanks Zoo and Garden will be closed Thursday.

▪ Richland County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ City of Columbia offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Town of Irmo offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ All Irmo town parks are closed until further notice.

▪ The Savannah River Site will be closed from 8 p.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Thursday to non-essential personnel, according to an SRS release. Essential personnel reporting for the Wednesday night shift should be prepared to stay for 24 hours.

▪ Fort Jackson said Thursday morning that it is “exercising liberal leave” for on-post personnel, and encouraged people not to place themselves in danger traveling to work.

▪ Congaree National Park closed at 5 p.m. Tuesday and remain closed until further notice, which includes all facilities, campgrounds, trails and canoe landings, the park said in a Facebook post.

▪ The Cayce River Walk and Guignard Park will be closed Thursday.

▪ All movable bridges will be closed to marine traffic at 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to the S.C. Department of Transportation.

▪ City of Columbia trash collection canceled on Thursday, will resume Friday.

▪ Lexington County Waste and Recycling Collection will be delayed by one day starting Thursday (i.e. Thursday collection picked up Friday, Friday collection picked up on Saturday, etc.).

▪ Town of Lexington Waste and Recycling Collection will be delayed by one day starting Thursday (i.e. Thursday collection picked up Friday, Friday collection picked up on Saturday, etc.).

▪ The South Carolina Board of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) meeting scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, has been rescheduled for Friday at the same time.

Schools

▪ The University of South Carolina and schools in Richland School Districts One and Two were among the latest S.C. districts to announce closures for Thursday.

▪ Aiken County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Allendale County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Bamberg School District One schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Bamberg School District Two schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Barnwell County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Beaufort County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Berkeley County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Calhoun County School District will dismiss students early on Wednesday and close Thursday.

▪ Charleston County schools will be closed Thursday and will resume normal operations Friday.

▪ Colleton County schools will be closed Thursday, and district officials will determine by Thursday evening if classes will resume Friday.

▪ Dorchester School Districts 2 and 4 will be closed Thursday.

▪ Edgefield County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Florence County School Districts 2, 3 and 5 will be closed Thursday.

▪ Georgetown County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Greenville County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Greenwood County School District 52 schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Hampton School District 1 schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Horry County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Jasper County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Laurens County School District 56 schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Lee County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Lexington School District 1 will be closed Thursday.

▪ Lexington School District 2 will be closed Thursday.

▪ Lexington School District 3 will be closed Thursday.

▪ Lexington School District 4 will be closed Thursday.

▪ Lexington-Richland School District 5 schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Marion County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Marlboro County schools will be closed Thursday, and officials said that Friday, originally scheduled as fall break, will be the makeup day.

▪ McCormick County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Newberry County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Orangeburg County School District 3 will dismiss early Wednesday and be closed Thursday.

▪ Orangeburg County School District 4 will dismiss early Wednesday and be closed Thursday.

▪ Orangeburg County School District 5 will dismiss early Wednesday and be closed Thursday.

▪ Richland One schools and administrative offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Richland School District Two is canceling school on Thursday.

▪ Saluda County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Spartanburg County school districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 will be closed Thursday.

▪ Sumter School District said Wednesday morning that all schools and offices will be closed Thursday and reopen Friday.

▪ Union County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ York County schools will be closed Thursday.

▪ Gray Collegiate Academy in West Columbia is closing at noon Wednesday and will be closed Thursday.

Colleges

▪ University of South Carolina in Columbia will be closed and classes canceled Thursday, but essential campus functions like food service, housing & the health center will continue to operate.

▪ Benedict College will be closed Thursday.

▪ Midlands Tech will close its campuses on Thursday

▪ Columbia College will be closed and classes are canceled on Thursday, but residence halls and the dining hall will remain open.

▪ Clemson University said its Charleston campuses will be closed Thursday.

▪ The University of South Carolina-Beaufort has canceled classes at its Beaufort and Bluffton campuses for Thursday.

▪ USC Aiken has canceled all classes for Thursday and all activities from 8 p.m. Wednesday to 6 p.m. Thursday. Essential personnel are to report at 11 a.m. Thursday.

▪ Claflin University in Orangeburg will be closed Wednesday and Thursday and will resume normal operations Friday, the university announced Tuesday evening.

▪ S.C. State University, also in Orangeburg, will be closed Thursday and resume normal operations Friday.

▪ South University in Columbia will be closed Thursday.

▪ Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College will close at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Government Offices

▪ Allendale County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Bamberg County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Barnwell County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Beaufort County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Berkeley County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Calhoun County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Charleston County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Chesterfield County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Clarendon County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Colleton County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Dillon County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Dorchester County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Fairfield County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Florence County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Hampton County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Kershaw County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Lancaster County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Lee County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Lexington County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Marlboro County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ McCormick County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Orangeburg County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Richland County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Saluda County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Sumter County offices will be closed Thursday.

▪ Williamsburg County offices will be closed Thursday.

This story will be updated as more closings are added.

This story was originally published October 10, 2018 at 4:51 PM.