South Carolina’s beaches overall are well prepared to withstand the winds and waves of this year’s hurricane season, but there are a few spots along the coast to worry about, a state official said.
“Looking at the entire state, we’re going into the hurricane season in fairly good shape,” said oceanographer Bill Eiser of the state Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management.
However, several homes, condominiums and a golf course along northeast Isle of Palms are threatened by beach erosion and the south end of Pawleys Island would be vulnerable during a storm, Eiser said.
South Carolina’s beaches are the centerpiece of the state’s $16 billion tourism industry, the largest in the state. While the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through the end of November, the height of the season in South Carolina is generally from mid-August through early October.
In recent months, several beaches troubled by erosion have been replenished with sand, and a $40 million project to rebuild 25 miles of beach in northeastern South Carolina is in the works, Eiser said.
“Protecting the beach is paramount in terms of maintaining tourism,” said Brad Dean, executive director of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
Tourism is a $4 billion industry along the 60-mile stretch of beaches from Georgetown to the North Carolina state line, an area known as the Grand Strand.
Dean said there is no easy formula to calculate a return on investment for replenishing the beaches, but between 85 percent and 90 percent of Grand Strand tourists list the beach as a top reason for coming.
“The cost of maintaining our beaches on an annual basis is a fraction of a percentage of what they will return,” Dean said. “It’s without a doubt the single most important investment in our state’s economy, as far as we’re concerned.”
The last major project to build up the beaches on the Grand Strand was a decade ago.
In recent years, state lawmakers have provided about $5 million from the state budget yearly to replenish the beaches with sand, about what the state needs to maintain its beaches, Eiser said.
Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach, said he’s confident legislators would continue to designate money for beach repair, even in an economic slowdown.
“It’s a very inexpensive way to maintain our economy,” Edge said. “A few million a year sustains a billion-dollar-a-year industry.”
Recent projects have rebuilt several beaches historically hampered by erosion including Hunting Island State Park near Beaufort, Edisto Beach and Folly Beach, Eiser said.
The last two storm seasons also have been relatively mild, allowing beaches to rebuild naturally. Last year, Ernesto brushed the coast and two years ago, Ophelia threatened the north coast before moving away.
The last bad storm season was 2004, the busiest season on record in this state when seven named storms affected South Carolina and two hurricanes made landfall.
At least one beach area on Sullivans Island will need more than sand to solve the problem. The area is near the channel of Breech Inlet, which separates the Sullivans Island from the Isle of Palms.
“You would have to relocate the Breech Inlet channel to get any sort of permanent relief,” Eiser said.
Topics Hurricane South Carolina
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