Georgetown distributes 6 tons of sand to neighbors hours before Ian’s arrival

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The City of Georgetown distributed around six tons of sands to neighbors, who were making their final preparations ahead of Hurricane Ian’s arrival in the Lowcountry.

The distribution happened along Front Street, just off Fraser Street, Thursday. The site was open from 8 a.m. until they had run out of sand.

John Stuckey grabbed about seven bags of sand to help protect his family’s home against possible flooding due to Ian.

“We came out to get some sand just because the weather’s coming,” Stuckey said, “so we’re just preparing for any type of flood or anything like that that floods the house, put some sand down in front of the door, so we make sure we don’t flood out.”

Mayor Carol Jayroe and Councilmember Hobson Milton were also seen helping fill and tie dozens of sandbags to waiting neighbors.

Ian is expected to bring flooding, storm surge and high winds to the Georgetown area throughout the day on Friday.

“We should see a lot of flooding just from the surge,” resident Layne Smith said. “We’ve already got some pretty high tides at our house. We’re out of Wedgefield off the Black River, so if it stays like that, and we get a ton of rain, it’s going to be pretty bad.”

Stuckey said his family lives in a low-lying area and is prone to flooding during a normal afternoon storm.

“Just like a normal day, when it rains, it floods a little bit,” Stuckey said, “but I can only imagine with this storm coming, what’s it going to do if rain and storm and wind come through, we’d be in a lot worse trouble.”

In all, neighbors in Georgetown hope the storm will have less of an impact than Hurricane Michael in 2018.

“Just everybody be safe out there today,” Stuckey said. “For the next couple of days, it might get a little rough.”