Well, it took Hurricane Ian forever to get to Beaufort, and when it finally came our way, Beaufort got very lucky.
We gasped and panicked as we watched the huge Category 4 storm destroy parts of the west coast of Florida when it made landfall on Wednesday. And, then it slowly inched its way across the state.
At a snails pace; at around eight miles per hour.
And we waited.
The memes were out in full force on social media. Everyone wondered where Jim Cantore was. Some rumors flew about just as much as the Spanish moss did, saying he was in Bluffton, or on Hilton Head. He was at neither.
And we waited some more.
By the time it crossed Florida it was downgraded to a tropical storm. Then it was upgraded back to a Category 1 hurricane when it left the Sunshine State and hit the Atlantic.
For two whole days, the storm path took it right into Beaufort and our sea islands.
And, we waited, and waited.
Then its effects started coming around on Thursday afternoon. Then it kept up on Friday morning as it passed us by before it finally went away later on Friday and left the Lowcountry alone, allowing it to return to the quiet and peaceful place that it usually is.
All-in-all, Beaufort got lucky. Beaufort got very lucky.
With very little structure damage and a low number of power outages reported, most of Ian’s fury was kept offshore as it moved north and eventually made landfall in Georgetown with 85 mph winds and caused substantial damage on Friday afternoon.
There was very little flooding with the couple of inches of rain (at best) that Ian brought to Beaufort.
All-in-all, Ian left around 3,000 without power in Beaufort County by Friday morning, with most of the outages reported on Fripp and Hunting Islands, along with Daufuskie Island. The number was cut in half by Friday afternoon, after the worst of the storm passed by off the coast. Daufuskie Island reported some significant damage.
Beaufort got lucky with Hurricane Ian. We almost can’t say that enough.
Yes, hurricanes are a part of the Lowcountry life we all experience here in our little slice of paradise. But, don’t let Ian’s lackluster effects on Beaufort make you complacent. Hurricanes are very dangerous and just because this one didn’t do us much harm, does not mean that the next one won’t.
