Beaufort County Public Works held Hurricane Evacuation Preparedness Training to practice plans and procedures for disaster response on March 15 and 16.

"If we have a large category hurricane, we will have to evacuate like everyone else because we are a coastal county, and flooding is an issue," said Pamela Cobb, Disaster Recovery Manager. "We need to practice the routes, how our teams would move and what equipment we would need to take in an emergency."

For the first time, the County practiced evacuation operations which will be vital to assisting to County to recover from the storm quickly. 

"The plan is to continue expanding our preparation to additional agencies and departments within the County to test our capacity and bandwidth," said Cobb.

Fifteen vehicles convoyed from Beaufort County moving further inland from the South Carolina coast to a safe location. The evacuation location allows the County to have a safe place to remain until the hurricane ends. After the storm, the equipment can quickly move back into the County and begin cleanup operations. 

Practicing the route allows employees to be better prepared and equipped to evacuate quickly and efficiently in an emergency.

Mock hurricane and incident activation exercises were given to the employees to test their response, chain of command, emergency functions, and equipment in the event of a disaster. Scenarios included incidents of fallen trees, flooding, bursting water lines, power outages, and earthquakes.

An estimated 50 employees participated in the training with 11 Beaufort County departments, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, Yemassee Police, Varnville Police, Hampton County Sheriff's Office, Fairfax Police, Allendale County Sheriff's Office, and Allendale Police.

For information on how to prepare for a hurricane, go to SCEMD South Carolina Hurricane Guide

Watch:

The first video to run will be Hurricane Preparedness:

https://youtu.be/ToaCoTLsfj8

The second video will also deal with Hurricane Preparedness with a focus on pets:

https://youtu.be/gHoJwswvxdo  

The third video will also deal with the Hurricane To-Go bag: