Evacuation orders lifted for all remaining SC coastal counties after Dorian passes
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has lifted his evacuation orders for all five remaining coastal S.C. counties, effective immediately.
Those counties are: Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester, Georgetown and Horry counties.
McMaster lifted orders Thursday afternoon for Beaufort, Colleton and Jasper counties.
The governor in a statement warned coastal evacuees to drive carefully, and consider some roads could be flooded or blocked. He also advised drivers to be patient and heed directions on returning to their neighborhoods from local authorities.
McMaster’s order also restores local officials’ authority over school and government office schedules.
Thousands of coastal homes and businesses lost power Thursday as Hurricane Dorian, then a Category 2 storm hit the coast. As the storm made landfall over North Carolina Friday, forecasters downgraded it to a Category 1 with sustained wind speeds of 90 mph.
Though weather conditions have improved, state officials warned of fallen trees, downed power lines and standing water. On Thursday, state transportation director Christy Hall advised motorists to stay clear of road barriers and not to remove them.
Dorian unleashed wind and rain along the South Carolina coast Thursday, with Charleston County getting hit particularly hard.
The storm pushed down trees, forced dozens of streets to close and caused widespread power outages.
Most of the outages were in the Charleston area, where more than 120,000 people had lost power by Thursday afternoon.
This story was originally published September 6, 2019 at 10:00 AM.
