NEWS: Promoted Burton Captain deflects attention to children. PAGE A3
SEPTEMBER 13 - 19, 2018 WWW.YOURISLANDNEWS.COM
COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
Food bank in dire need Need expected to intensify after storm
Waiting for
Florence Track of massive storm remains uncertain By Bob Sofaly and Justin Jarrett
The Lowcountry was left in limbo this week as the East Coast braced for the arrival of Hurricane Florence. Gov. Henry McMaster issued a mandatory evacuation order for the entire South Carolina coast on Monday, then lifted the order for Beaufort, Jasper and Colleton counties before it was to go into effect at noon Tuesday. The storm, which was a Category 4 hurricane as of Tuesday afternoon, was projected to make landfall along the North Carolina coast sometime Friday. Officials urged everyone within the poten-
tial swath of the storm to remain vigilant and follow official sources for updates on the projected path. “While being outside of the cone is a hopeful sign, remember that rather than bouncing its way north along the coast like others storms of the past, Florence remains at sea and will make a direct and powerful hit somewhere,” Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling said in an email. “Furthermore, like Hugo, there can be last minute changes in direction at the last minute. This is to say we must remain vigilant and continue preparing for the worst while we are of course hoping for the best.”
Many did just that Monday. Storms and stress can bring out the worst in people, but a group of Beaufort firefighters and Beaufort Department of Public Works officials got together to help people by filling nearly 2,000 sand bags in two days as Hurricane Florence approached the coast — all for free. “We don’t check people’s IDs to see if they are live in the city limits”, said Nathan Farrow, Public Works Operations Manager for the City of Beaufort. “If they show up, we fill the bags and give up to a dozen SEE FLORENCE, PAGE A5
Photo at top: City of Beaufort firefighters and the department of public works teamed up Monday, Sept. 11, to fill nearly 2,000 sandbags for people in Beaufort. Using a scoop cut from a plastic pipe they filled the bags and passed them to others to be tied and loaded into a steady stream of cars and pickups. Photo by Bob Sofaly.
Sister Cities for when the chips are down By Bill Rauch
Last week was our wake-up call that the 2018 hurricane season will be an active one, so here’s a little institutional knowledge from a dozen or so years ago. In the days after Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans in August 2005, the images of flooding and destruction were all over the television. Everyone was talking about it. Everyone was affected. People would come up to me on Bay Street and say “Mayor, it’s awful. What can we do?” I didn’t really know. But after the 20th person said the same thing I got an idea: I’d call the Mississippi Municipal Association and ask whoever picked up the phone if there were any towns like Beaufort — “shrimpers and soldiers” — that needed our help. The guy at the other end of the line said, “Well we haven’t heard anything from them, but from the news
reports it looks like Long Beach needs a lot of help. There’s a new mayor there, Billy Skellie. Here’s his number.” Long Beach, Miss., is a town of about 15,000 along the Gulf Coast about 50 miles as the crow flies east of New Orleans. I called Mayor Skellie’s number several times that day and it just rang and rang. But then Capt. Perry Hall stopped by my office to say he was going down to New Orleans to help out. I said to him, “On your way through Mississippi Bill Rauch please stop by Long Beach and see if you can find the mayor there, Billy Skellie, and while you’re standing there with him call me. I want to talk to him.” Well, the next day the phone rang and it was Perry Hall standing with
SILICON VALLEY OF THE SOUTH? Beaufort is growing into a hub for high-tech business ventures. PAGE A4
Billy Skellie. I said, “Mayor, we want to help. What do you need?” He said, “We badly need gas. When the feds came in here they commandeered all the gas at the convenience stores and there are a bunch of people here who want to leave because their houses are all torn up and there’s no water or sewer, but they’ve got no gas for their cars. And then we need guys with chainsaws, as many as you can send.” Beaufort responded gloriously and two days later Long Beach had two gasoline tankers pulled up in front of their main fire station. The next weekend 150 of our finest were camped out in the side yard of the fire station sharpening their chainsaw blades. The Marines loaned us a mess tent. Steve Brown generously brought the groceries and did the cooking. Fire Chief Wendell Wilburn with his brass buttons shined gave us the look of offiSEE SISTER, PAGE A5
DOLPHINS DOMINATE Battery Creek Lady Dolphins beat Wade Hampton on Thursday at BCHS; improve to 5-2 overall. PAGE B1
While the food may be ample around many dinner tables, the Salvation Army of Beaufort County has had to turn down help to families in desperate need of a meal. “Our pantry is extremely low, and we are in desperate need of food for the people of our community,” said Captain Wanda Long, Salvation Army Corps officer. With only three cans of corn, three cans of green beans, and a limited supply of other items available on the shelves of the Salvation Army’s food pantry, to say the need is urgent is an understatement. An estimated 20 heads of households come in each day to seek assistance for a family of at least five, and “that’s on a slow day,” said Amber Hewitt, Social Service Director. “We have to say ‘no’ so often, and that bothers me, especially when there are small children involved,” Hewitt said. “We can’t save everyone, but we want to do as much as we can.” The Salvation Army food pantry has been in the community since 1973, and this is one of the worst times it has seen, Long noted. “I’ve been here a few months, but I’ve never seen the pantry this low,” she said. “Three cans of green beans don’t go very far when we’re trying to assist families in Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties.” An average food bundle for a family may consist of three meals including cans of vegetables, rice, cereal, meats and dry beans, and fresh produce, when available. Long says there’s been a dramatic increase in the demand for food assistance in recent weeks, and the need is only expected to increase in the wake of Hurricane Florence. “We had a great influx and we’ve had more food going out than we had coming in, she said. “We receive about 250 calls a day asking for assistance. We rely solely on the help of the community to be able to help the families that come through our door because they have nowhere else to turn.” The calls range from regulars to new families that have fallen on hard times or are seeking help for a family member who is recently unemployed, Long said. She encourages individuals, families, churches and civic organizations to help by donating food and dry goods. “Search through your own pantry, search through your heart; there is always something to give,” Long said. Long and Hewitt say people can assist their efforts by visiting the grocery store and picking up a few extra items to donate. Companies and restaurants can donate their unused food inventory as well, they said. Long says she knows personally what it’s like to be in need. “I was one of those children that the Salvation Army took care of,” she said. “I was fed from the food pantry. We were the true Angel Tree kids, and for my family it wasn’t a hand out, it was a hand up.” “Need knows no criteria of people,” Long said, adding the Salvation Army serves people SEE PANTRY, PAGE A5
Beaufort High lockdown proves to be false alarm Beaufort High School was briefly placed on lockdown Monday, Sept. 10, while law enforcement investigated a possible threat made on social media. The precautionary lockdown was lifted within about 15 minutes after law enforcement determined that the possible threat was referring to a high school in another state.
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