S.C. Gov. McMaster gives briefing on hurricane preparedness

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) – The devastating and deadly impacts from Helene last year proved hurricanes are statewide events in South Carolina – not just on the coast.

And with the next hurricane season just days away, Gov. Henry McMaster joined state leaders Thursday to share the latest on preparations and what South Carolinians need to do now to be ready.

State leaders say they have been preparing since last winter for this hurricane season.

Now they say it’s time for all South Carolinians to get ready.

“Don’t wait for the warning. Don’t wait for the press conferences. Do it now — that way you’re prepared,” said Rob Perry of the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

The director of the state’s Emergency Management Division, Kim Stenson, says South Carolinians should take three important steps:

• Prepare their homes.
• Know their evacuation zone, if they live in one.
• Remember their route to evacuate.

“We always hope to never be faced with an evacuation, but in the event an evacuation is ordered, our goal is to ensure there’s a safe movement of traffic and distribution near evacuation routes,” said Lt. Col. Travis Manley of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

While South Carolina leaders emphasize annually that the impacts of hurricanes can and will be felt across the state – that reality was unscored last year with Helene – the deadliest storm in state history.

Stenson says Helene’s impacts in the Upstate and on the western part of the state as a whole, further away from the coast – didn’t change South Carolina’s hurricane preparations this year or its response plans.

“You can easily have hurricane-force winds all the way up to our northern border with North Carolina,” Stenson said. “So it really hasn’t changed anything. It’s just opened up a few eyes because we’ve not had that here in South Carolina for a number of years.”

Stenson and Gov. Henry McMaster say they feel the state’s plans held up well then – and feel good about them headed into this season if South Carolinians take them just as seriously.

“If a hurricane slams right into us, then it will qualify as a disaster, more than likely. But a disaster does not have to have a loss of life, with preparation and understanding of what’s happening,” McMaster said.

The state’s preparations will continue into next month – including the annual lane reversal drill on June 4.

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