The State Ports Authority will close its shipping terminals in Charleston and Georgetown on Friday and Saturday as Hurricane Matthew approaches the coast, the agency said Thursday, according to The Post and Courier.
Ship work will continue through Friday morning and stop when the weather turns. The terminals are normally closed on Sunday, but waterfront work could resume Sunday night if the Coast Guard clears it. The authority said it expects to return to normal gate hours Monday, though that could change with conditions. Its inland port in Greer will stay open.
Crews spent Thursday tying down ship-to-shore cranes, loading BMW vehicles at Columbus Street Terminal onto ships or trains, strapping down empty containers, sandbagging warehouses and wrapping gate kiosk equipment in plastic, the newspaper reported.
Charleston International Airport, the state’s busiest, expects flights to taper off Friday, said Paul Campbell, CEO of the Charleston County Aviation Authority. JetBlue canceled its Thursday service. Delta Air Lines plans to stop flying at 1 p.m. Friday, and American Airlines canceled all flights after noon Friday. Southwest and United expect their last flights late Friday afternoon or early evening, and Alaska Airlines canceled its Friday flight.
The Air Force, which controls the runways, will decide when to close the airfield. Campbell said he expects Sunday “for things to start moving back to normal operations,” depending on the weather.
Carnival’s Ecstasy, due back in Charleston on Saturday, will stay at sea an extra day and return to Union Pier Terminal on Sunday, weather permitting.
The shutdowns follow Gov. Nikki Haley’s evacuation order. The evacuation of Charleston, Beaufort and parts of neighboring counties began at 3 p.m. Wednesday, with the eastbound lanes of Interstate 26 reversed to carry traffic toward Columbia. Officials expected more than a million people to move inland, and Haley said Wednesday evening that hotels across the state were full. The Air Force also began moving an estimated 25 C-17 cargo jets away from Joint Base Charleston.
The National Weather Service said conditions in the Charleston area should begin to worsen Friday evening or early Saturday, with 5 to 10 inches of rain and a storm surge of 4 to 8 feet possible.
