As Ian threatens to dump heavy rain and wind gusts to the Augusta area, Crystal Harper doesn’t know what to expect.
“Well, I’ve already gotten my supplies – my water, my batteries and flashlights, my little food I might need, got my hotspot going for my internet,” said Harper, who lives in Hephzibah.
And she’s got sandbags – thanks to the city of Augusta.
On Thursday, the city offered a maximum of five free sandbags to prevent flood water damage, and they were in high demand. All the bags were gone within 30 minutes of the giveaway which began at 3 p.m. at Augusta’s Public Works office on Tobacco Road.
The National Weather Service issued the Tropical Storm Warning at 11:27 a.m. Thursday for multiple Georgia counties including Burke, Columbia, McDuffie, Richmond and South Carolina counties including Edgefield and Aiken.
Richmond County Schools are closed on Friday, while schools in Aiken County have prepared to work remotely. In McDuffie County, school has been cancelled, and students will not have to make up the day.
Thus far, the Columbia County School District and Augusta University have not cancelled classes. Around 3:30 p.m. Thursday Steven Flynt, Columbia County’s school superintendent, reiterated that school will continue as planned Friday; however, the situation is being monitored. Should things change, parents will be contacted, he said.
At 5:43 p.m. Thursday, Augusta University’s Jagwire sent out an email to its students stating, “The storm is currently moving farther east away from Augusta. In light of this information, operations on all of our campuses, including classes and clinical activities, will continue as normal.”
News releases from Richmond, McDuffie and Aiken county school systems cite the possibility of heavy rain and winds for the alteration of the schedule. Earlier in the week school systems moved regularly scheduled football games to Thursday. After-school events have been cancelled in area counties including Columbia.
Ian had been downgraded to a tropical storm after slamming Florida, trapping many Floridians and cutting off power to more than 2 million.
According to the Associated Press, Ian ranks as one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States bringing the threat of catastrophic flooding around the state of Florida. Its tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 415 miles and drenching much of Florida and the southeastern Atlantic coast.
Its project path threatens the Georgia and South Carolina coasts before moving inland through South Carolina, and it was upgraded to hurricane status after crossing into the Atlantic.
According to the National Weather Service, potential impacts of a tropical storm include “large tree limbs broken off. A few trees snapped or uprooted, but with greater numbers in places where trees are shallow rooted. Some fences and roadway signs blown over. A few roads impassable from debris, particularly within urban or heavily wooded places. Hazardous driving conditions on bridges and other elevated roadways. Scattered power and communications outages.”
The weather service anticipates heavy rainfall with the possibility of “life threatening flooding” and strong, gusty winds to impact the South Carolina Midlands and Central Savannah River Area beginning late Thursday.
On Tuesday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for all of Georgia’s 159 counties that took effect Thursday morning.
In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster urged residents to finalize storm preparations Thursday.
“If you haven’t yet made plans for every contingency, this afternoon is the time to do so,” said McMaster in a news release. “We can expect to experience a lot of rain throughout the state along with dangerous storm surge in low-lying coastal areas. With the potential for hurricane force winds along our coast, it’s important for South Carolinians to plan now.”
The city of Charleston is preparing for impact as well.
The mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, asked his city to shut down Friday as storm Ian approaches.
“There will be water tomorrow in this city,” Mayor John Tecklenburg said.
No evacuations have been ordered in South Carolina, which is under a state of emergency.
Forecasters warn several feet of ocean water could surge into low areas along the coast, like Charleston.
Augustans will be involved in relief efforts.
“The Salvation Army of Augusta is preparing resources and personnel to meet the immediate needs of survivors and first responders ahead of Hurricane Ian’s potentially historic landfall in Florida,” according to a news release from the Salvation Army of Augusta. “In Augusta, the emergency vehicle and staff members are being deployed to serve those affected by the storm.”
The organization assists with food and shelter.
Nationally, The Salvation Army has as many as 37 mobile feeding units, and one is being deployed from Augusta and one field kitchen ready to mobilize across the impacted area immediately after the worst effects of the storm are realized. Each unit can feed between 500 and 1,500 people per day, the release said.
Richmond County residents can sign up for weather alerts. The system allows emergency managers to send citizens text messages, phone calls, or email when the National Weather Service (NWS) issues an emergency notification. To sign up, visit https://member.everbridge.net/1569557143617555/login
Liz Wright and Associated Press contributed to this story.
