South Carolina Prepares for Evacuations Along Coast

COLUMBIA, SC – South Carolina is preparing to evacuate more than one million people from the coast ahead of Hurricane Matthew.

“This is not something that we want to play with,” explains SC Governor Nikki Haley.

The plan is for all lanes on I-26 North of Charleston to Columbia to move in the same direction starting at 3:00 pm Wednesday.

The state learned a tough lesson during Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

It took people nearly 12 hours to drive what would usually be a two hour trip on the clogged interstate.

“Everything and anything that we need to be doing, we are basically making sure gets done,” Haley says.
The Governor has already declared a State of Emergency.

1800 National Guardsmen have been activated and more than 3700 law enforcement officers will be on duty.

The governor says people should have a full tank of gas, and to know where they plan to go before they get on the road.

People are being asked to drive a hundred miles away from the coast.