Coastal emergency managers take stock of Helene’s damage

Editor’s note: Updated Oct. 4, 2024 at 5:40 p.m. to include preliminary Glynn County damage assessments. Updated Oct. 2, 2024 at 4:40 p.m. to include preliminary Bryan County damage assessments.

More than three days after the outer edges of Hurricane Helene whipped the Georgia Coast with tropical storm-force winds, Coastal Georgia emergency managers were still putting figures to the damages in each county.

In hard-hit Chatham County, where nearly 30,000 Georgia Power customers were still without power into Tuesday evening, Helene destroyed nine homes and left another 108 with major damage, spokeswoman Abby Murphy said on Tuesday morning. The damage estimates are still preliminary, she said. Homes that were affected but remained habitable number 537; those with minor damage numbered 291.

Despite multiple tornado warnings during the storm, there was no confirmed tornado touchdown in Chatham County, Murphy said.

The National Weather Service in Charleston, which covers Georgia coastal counties south to McIntosh, reported the highest recorded wind gusts in Chatham as 76 mph at the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport.

The National Weather Service in Jacksonville, which covers Camden and Glynn counties in Georgia, reported 50-100 injuries in Glynn as a result of Hurricane Helene.
Widespread trees and power lines were blown down across the county. Over 36,000 were without power at the height of the outages Friday; that number was reduced to about 2,000 Tuesday evening. The highest recorded wind gust was 78 mph on Jekyll Island at 1:52 a.m. on Sept. 27.

While the NWS said there were “multiple trees reported down on homes,” Glynn County spokesman Lawton Dodd said Tuesday a complete damage assessment was still being compiled. By Thursday an assessment documented storm damage to 52 publicly owned properties and 115 private properties. Four of the latter were destroyed and 24 had major damage.

McIntosh County Emergency Manager Ty Poppell estimated the county had about 50-60 residences with tree damage of any level.

Bryan County had assessed major damage at 47 homes and minor damage at 127 homes, spokesman Nicholas Beard reported Wednesday morning. Some areas on the north end of the county had not yet been assessed.

Liberty reported four residences destroyed, 70 with minor damage and 536 residences “affected” by Helene, meaning very minor damage.

As with Hurricane Matthew in 2016, wind-driven debris was a bigger issue than flooding with Helene. Both storms hit the coast with tropical storm force winds.

“Matthew was worse for us in Liberty,” Liberty County Emergency Manager Robert Dodd said.

Private water woes

While public water system along the coast had no interruption of services, more than 150 coastal communities were under “boil water” notices as of Tuesday, the Coastal Health District reported.

The health district lists the communities by county here: https://coastalhealthdistrict.org/boilwater/. The page provides instructions for proper boiling techniques.

The health district also advises that residents with private wells that have flooded should boil water for consumption. A well is considered flooded if its well casing has been submerged in water anytime during or after the impact of Hurricane Helene.