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Hermine Moves Through Georgia Into South Carolina After Florida Landfall
| Wall Street Journal | - |
After
battering part of Florida's Gulf Coast, Tropical Storm Hermine moved
northeast through Georgia into South Carolina, threatening to wallop the
coastal areas of the Carolinas and mid-Atlantic states.
Hermine Moves Through Georgia Into South Carolina After Florida Landfall
Heavy rain, ocean surges threaten coastal areas of Carolinas and mid-Atlantic states
0:00 / 0:00
Hurricane Hermine made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast early
Friday with 80 mph winds. Forecasters said the hurricane could produce
life-threatening storm surges up to 12 feet, as well as major flooding.
The storm is expected to arrive in the Northeast by Saturday. Photo: AP.
The storm’s center was about 35 miles southwest of Myrtle Beach, S.C., as of 8 p.m. Friday, with wind as high as 50 miles per hour and heavy rain, according to the National Weather Service. The storm was expected to move across coastal North Carolina on Friday night and into Saturday morning, and move off the North Carolina coast by Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
About 44,000 customers in South Carolina were without power, according to the state Emergency Management Division. The state delivered 1,000 sandbags to Darlington County in central South Carolina, and shelters were on standby but were empty as of late Friday afternoon. Pawleys Island, S.C., police posted a tweet Friday afternoon warning residents to expect roadways to flood during the next high tide, which was expected at about 9:50 p.m. Friday.
North Carolina officials prepared for the storm by staging rescue boats, high-water trucks, Humvee military trucks and state National Guard members in eastern counties susceptible to flooding, said Mike Sprayberry, director of the N.C. Division of Emergency Management. Duke Energy, which provides power to most of the state, has also lined up about 150 workers in central North Carolina in case of outages.
ENLARGE
A boy and his dog wade in the storm surge from Hurricane Hermine in St. Marks, Fla., on Thursday.
Photo:
Getty Images
Dave Smith, who works at Hurricane Jack’s Marine LLC, a boat parts consignment shop in Bridgeton, N.C., in the path of the storm, said workers brought down some canvas sails in anticipation of the storm, but not much else. They tracked the storm as it grew weaker, and expected that is wouldn’t have much impact on their area, he said.
“It’s nothing but a rainstorm,” he said. “Good weather for ducks.” He did expect a 3-foot rise on the Neuse River next to Bridgeton, and flooding of some areas from rain, he said.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency for his state on Friday, and activated the National Guard to provide help if needed to local governments as they clear roads, restore electricity and repair other damage. The Maryland Emergency Management Agency also made preparations for the storm, warning residents of the state’s Eastern Shore to watch the storm’s progress.
In Georgia, roughly 125,000 utility customers in Georgia lost power in the storm. Crystal Buchanan, spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency, said she expected many of them to regain power quickly as work crews repaired the damage to power lines.
In Florida, a homeless man was killed in Marion County, northwest of Orlando, during the storm when a tree fell on him, Gov. Rick Scott said at a press conference. The county coroner was determining if the death was storm-related, the governor said.
Storm Tracker
The projected 5-day path of Hurricane Hermine
VT.
N.H.
N.Y.
Boston
CONN.
PA.
New York
Philadelphia
1 p.m. Tuesday
N.J.
MD.
1 p.m. Monday
VA.
1 p.m. Sunday
Norfolk
1 p.m. Saturday
Raleigh
N.C.
Columbia
1 a.m. Saturday
S.C.
GA.
1 p.m. Friday
Tallahassee
1 a.m. Friday
4 p.m. Thursday
Atlantic Ocean
FLA.
Gulf of
Mexico
Path of storm
Projected path
Source: NOAA National Hurricane Center
ENLARGE
With Hurricane Hermine bearing down, police blocked the road entering Cedar Key, Fla., on Thursday.
Photo:
John Raoux/Associated Press
—Valerie Bauerlein contributed to this article.
Write to Cameron McWhirter at cameron.mcwhirter@wsj.com 
