As Hurricane Helene chugged toward the Florida panhandle as a Category 2 storm, it won’t directly threaten Beaufort County but its outreach will pose the risk of forming tornadoes in the area.
During a National Weather Service briefing Wednesday night, Charleston Meteorologist Ron Morales said twisters are Helene’s greatest threat to Beaufort County, with the potential for the area to get “many tornadoes.” Tornado activity is expected Thursday evening and overnight within the stronger rain bands, Morales said.
But with the threat mounting as Thursday kicks off, there’s a glitch: Beaufort County doesn’t have tornado sirens mounted across the county.
In June 2018, Beaufort County Council had approved $500,000 in Federal Emergency Management Agency grant money and state funding for 12 sirens, which would’ve been placed in high-traffic areas across the county, according to previous reporting by The Island Packet . Any time the NWS issued a tornado warning, the sirens would have automatically transmitted a sound, audibly blaring up to 2 miles away, alerting residents to seek shelter.
Then, the 12-siren proposal presented to the County Council showed that having sirens would get the message to people lacking technology, like reliable access to internet or smartphones. There are some portions of the county where greater than 6% of households don’t have phone service, according to the 2018 presentation. The deadline for the project’s completion was April 2020.
However, the project never materialized. There are no weather-alert sirens in Beaufort County, Hannah Nichols, county spokesperson, said Thursday morning.
“Due to financial strain from the COVID-19 pandemic, County Council was unable to fund the grant match, and the project did not move forward,” Nichols said.
Now, without an automated countywide system in place, alerts come through over cellphone apps, across television screens or from the voice of radio.
On Thursday morning, many Beaufort County residents awoke to cellphone pinging, alerting of a tornado warning, which means a tornado has been spotted from the ground or detected by radar and cover should be taken.
“A severe thunderstorm capable of producing a twister was spotted near Bluffton, moving north at 25 mph,” the NWS said in its 7:18 a.m. Thursday alert.
The alert expired at 7:45 a.m., but a tornado watch was issued about an hour later. A tornado watch, which means twisters are possible in and near the watch area, typically covering multiple counties or states, is set to expire at 9 p.m. Thursday.
Before the threat of tornadoes picks up in the Beaufort County, it’s vital to ensure residents and visitors have a system to get alerts — a reliable phone app, television, radio or access to an online newspaper.
CodeRED : Download the free CodeRED Mobile Alert app from the Google Play or iTunes store.
Everbridge : Download the free Everbridge app from the Google Play or iTunes store.
Other options : NOAA weather radio, news media coverage, Emergency Alert System on radio and TV broadcasts.
Nichols urged residents to make sure National Weather Service alert notifications are enabled on mobile devices.
Tornado safety
- Go to the lowest floor of a home or building.
- Put as many walls between you and the outside.
- Avoid windows.
- Stay in a small interior room, like a closet, bathroom or an interior hall on the lowest level.
- Use pillows, heavy coats, blankets, or quilts to protect from flying debris.
- If in a mobile mobile home, outside or in a vehicle, seek sturdy shelter nearby. Lie in a ditch or low spot and cover your head.
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