As Hurricane Dorian nears, nearly a quarter million evacuees flee SC coast
Almost a quarter million evacuees have traveled away from the South Carolina coast — thousands on Interstate 26 alone — ahead of Hurricane Dorian’s arrival.
Since eastbound lanes on I-26 were reversed at 10:30 a.m. on Labor Day to account for elevated highway traffic, 54,000 vehicles have traveled westbound, according to S.C. Department of Transportation secretary Christy Hall.
The reversed lanes alone saw 11,000 vehicles headed away from the coast as of noon Tuesday, Hall said in a news conference. That’s about 3,200 vehicles per hour, which was “well above normal capacity,” she said.
Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency in South Carolina on Aug. 31 and ordered evacuations for some 830,000 people who live in parts of eight coastal counties. As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, an estimated 244,000 individuals had evacuated from the coast, according to Hall.
The S.C. counties and zones under evacuation orders are:
- Colleton Zones A, B
- Beaufort Zone A
- Jasper Zone A
- Charleston Zones A, B, C
- Dorchester Zone D
- Berkeley Zones B, G
- Horry Zone A
- Georgetown Zone A
McMaster also ordered a lane reversal on U.S. 278 in Hilton Head, but he announced Tuesday that the lane reversal has ended. Those seeking to travel toward the coast must take secondary highways, such as U.S. 176, S.C. 61 or U.S. 78, according to highway patrol Lance Cpl. Matt Southern.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol opened an additional exit — exit 203 at College Park Road — on I-26 in Berkeley County. Evacuees traveling in the normal westbound lanes or in the reversed lanes can take the exit.
Southern advised drivers to abide by all rules of the road, including not crossing over medians.
“Not only is it illegal, but it’s dangerous,” he said.
Drivers should also heed all warnings from law enforcement and stay away from areas blocked by barricades and cones, Southern said.
“Those are there to protect people,” he said.
Hurricane Dorian inched up the East Coast of the U.S. on Tuesday after sitting on the Bahamas for hours. The Midlands are expected to feel the storm’s impacts as early as Wednesday afternoon if Dorian remains on its projected path.
This story was originally published September 3, 2019 at 3:06 PM.