Women's Clothing Boutique Near Me Shell Point, SC

Beaufort County plans to spend $7.5 million to address water drainage problems in the Port Royal-area neighborhood of Shell Point, which has been dogged by water problems for decades.

The project affects about 2,850 residents living on 835 acres of land bounded by Parris Island Gateway, the Savannah Highway and marshland.

The improvements will include major drainage repairs, driveway pipe and culvert replacements, in addition to cleaning of roadside ditches and driveway pipes within the right-of-way of the South Carolina Department of Transportation, said Julianna Corbin, a Beaufort County environmental engineer.

Roads routinely flood in the area. That’s the main problem, Corbin said, but homes sometimes flood, too.

Beginning in the 1950s, home construction began but planning standards were not what they are today so drainage infrastructure, such as pipes and culverts, came along in “piecemeal” fashion. It’s also old, Corbin said, and ditches are clogged with silt.

“They are very frustrated by the problem and they are ready to see a solution,” Corbin told The Beaufort Gazette and The Island Packet, “and I don’t blame them.”

Lowcountry drainage problems are not unique to Shell Point but the neighborhood is bounded by marsh on two and sometimes three sides, making it susceptible to rising tides, exacerbating flooding, Corbin said.

The proposed upgrades can’t fix the problem entirely, Corbin said, but will improve the situation.

Beaufort County has applied for grants to pay for the work. Corbin is confident the grants will come through. Beaufort County Stormwater Utility funds also are expected to pay for a portion of the project.

Infrastructure improvements will begin next summer, according to Beaufort County. The SCDOT already has started tackling the maintenance work such as cleaning out ditches.

▪ Hamrick Drive (Broad River to Shell Point Rec Park)

▪ Area bounded by Shell Point Road (north)/Hickory Street (east)/Cypress Street and Walnut Street (south)/Broad River Drive (west)

▪ Dogwood Street Area (including Baynard Road, Morning Mist Drive and Magnolia Street)

▪ Broad River Drive from Parris Island Gateway to Dogwood Street

▪ Shell Point Road from Savannah Highway to Baynard Road

▪ Baynard Road

▪ Green Pond Drive

▪ Palmetto Ridge Road

▪ Hickory Street from Dogwood Street to Cypress Street

▪ Walnut Street

▪ Ashwood Circle

▪ Hickory Street from Cypress Street to Broad River Road

▪ Cypress Street

▪ Magnolia Street

▪ Dogwood Street

▪ Baynard Road

▪ Shell Point Road

▪ Walnut Street

▪ Broad River Road between Hickory Street & Ashwood Circle

▪ Ashwood Circle at Broad River Road

▪ Ashwood Circle near Whelk Road

▪ Broad River Road at Hamrick Drive

▪ Hamrick Drive: three culverts

▪ Broad River Road near 410 Broad River Road

▪ Shell Point Recreation Pike

To learn more and the project, visit https://shellpointdrainage.beaufortcountysc.gov.

This story was originally published October 21, 2022, 4:00 PM.

Instacart, a grocery delivery app similar to Doordash and Grubhub, suggested that its shoppers in the Southeastern U.S., who are currently in the midst of Category 3 Hurricane Idalia, could potentially earn more money from customer tips if they went out to deliver in the hurricane, according to a Reddit post by a shopper on Wednesday.

The post, shared in the r/InstacartShoppers subreddit, shows a screenshot of the Instacart app, with a map that shows shoppers how far away a customer request is. The screenshot also shows a banner at the bottom of the app with a suggestion from Instacart.

“Bad weather = good tips,” the banner reads, following this first statement with a raining cloud emoji and a money bag emoji. “We encourage customers to tip higher when rain is expected. Go online to take advantage, and always drive safely.”

The map shows that the poster is in Shell Point, South Carolina, which was at time of writing on Wednesday afternoon under a hurricane warning, a storm surge warning, and a tornado watch. The Weather Channel stated that there was “potential for wind 74 to 110 mph” and a “life-threatening storm surge possible.”

“I think [the suggestion is] ridiculous and takes advantage of people, especially millennials and Gen Z who are struggling financially at this time due to inflation,” the poster said in an online chat with Motherboard. “I know I’m struggling, but I draw the line at national disasters.”

An Instacart spokesperson told Motherboard in an email that the app had shut down operations in Florida and Georgia on Wednesday because of the hurricane, and that though it encouraged customers to tip more during inclement weather conditions, shopper safety was its first priority.

The user said that they had received $44.41 in tips on Tuesday, and $89 the day before, but that working on Monday had been “more dangerous.” Other posts in the subreddit, however, show that customers do not always tip higher when asking for deliveries in a hurricane. One post by a user who says they are in Florida with the hurricane approaching shows a delivery which would pay $4.16, including a tip of $0.04.

Another post talking about the hurricane shows deliveries paying between $14 and $44, all of which are over 20 miles away. The shopper’s map shows a label for West Meadows, a neighborhood in Florida.

“The distance is getting crazy,” the poster wrote. “Not worth it.”

Do you shop for Instacart? Are you delivering during extreme weather? We’d love to hear from you. From a non-work phone or email, you can contact Jules Roscoe at jules.roscoe@vice.com or on Signal at (415) 763-7705.

This is not the first time Instacart has suggested its shoppers take advantage of dangerous weather for increased tips. Other recent posts on the subreddit show a similar banner reflecting extreme heat conditions, which many parts of the U.S. weathered this summer.

“Hot weather = higher tips,” reads the banner in one screenshot posted earlier this month. This time, the title is followed by a sun emoji. “We encourage customers to tip higher when extreme heat is expected. Remember to use insulated bags to keep perishables cool.”

The user tagged their post with “What…In The World ?!”

“It seems that instead of relying only on customers to tip more when the weather is so hot, that IC would provide extra compensation too,” they wrote. “The heat index here is 115 [degrees Fahrenheit] today.”

Correction: An earlier version of this article specified “Florida Hurricane” in the headline. While Hurricane Idalia is affecting Florida, the Instacart shopper who posted on Reddit is based in South Carolina, which is also experiencing the hurricane.

Update: This article was updated with comment from an Instacart spokesperson.

From staff reports

Just before 3:30 a.m., Saturday, July 29, the Burton Fire District, the MCAS Fire Department, Beaufort County EMS and the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office responded to a house fire in Moultrie Circle in Grays Hill, after a fire was spotted under a mobile home by a neighbor, who was able to call 911 and get the resident out. It is not believed the home had working smoke alarms.

Fire crews arrived and found smoke and flames under a single-wide mobile home. Firefighters were able to catch and quickly extinguish the fire as it spread up into the home causing limited damages inside.

An adult female resident was displaced but did not need assistance from the Red Cross. No injuries were reported.

Damages are still being assessed, but fire damages were limited to a bathroom area of the home. Fire officials state the situation could have been much worse had the fire not been seen by the neighbor.

This was the second fire in a day for Burton firefighters. Just before 9:30 p.m.. Friday evening, firefighters responded to an activated fire alarm at a residence on Castle Rock Road.

Fire crews found a smoke-filled home caused by a pan left on the stove. The fire had self-extinguished prior to the fire district’s arrival, but not before causing minor damages to the cabinets around the stove. Fire officials said fire damages were limited due to no combustibles, such as cooking oil or paper products, being around the stove area. Firefighters assisted the homeowner, who was outside in the backyard at the time, with removing smoke from the residence.

Earlier this week, Burton and Parris Island firefighters extinguished a house fire on Walnut Street in Shell Point just after 10 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25, which displaced a family of four adults. Earlier in the month, on July 3, Burton, Beaufort, MCAS, and Parris Island fire crews battled a fully involved house fire on Trask Parkway, and days later on July 9, Burton and MCAS firefighters extinguished a house fire in an unoccupied building in the rear of a Grays Hill home. No injuries were reported in any of those fires.

The Burton Fire District has responded to 23 reported house fires so far in 2023, compared to 21 reported fires at the same time in 2022.

[Episcopal News Service] While Episcopalians in South Carolina prepared for the arrival of Hurricane Ian, the Diocese of Southwest Florida was still reeling from the storm’s impact, with the full extent of destruction still unknown. Some parishes haven’t been able to get to their buildings yet, and some are still trying to make sure their parishioners are safe.

Although Ian impacted a wide swath of Florida, extreme damage was heavily concentrated in the Fort Myers-Cape Coral area. Ian came ashore there on the afternoon of Sept. 28 as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of about 150 mph and a storm surge that left parts of the area under several feet of water. On Sept. 30, state officials said they had identified about three dozen storm-related deaths.

To donate to hurricane recovery in the Diocese of Southwest Florida, click here.

“At this point, communication remains difficult with those in the hardest hit areas,” Bishop Coadjutor Douglas Scharf told Episcopal News Service. Scharf, who was consecrated on Sept. 24, said the diocesan office was still without power and internet, but diocesan leaders had been able to reach most clergy and parish leaders in the affected areas.

“Several of our churches have sustained significant damage, but we have not yet been able to gain access to those churches in the hardest hit areas. We have received messages of support and encouragement from across the church, which we deeply appreciate.”

One of the hardest-hit spots was Sanibel Island, which “got hit with biblical storm surge,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. Ian washed away part of the causeway linking Sanibel Island to the mainland, rendering it inaccessible by road. Residents who did not evacuate are being rescued by helicopter, including some parishioners of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Bill Van Oss, rector, and his wife, Parish Communications Director Sue Van Oss, evacuated to a condo in Fort Myers. Sue Van Oss told ENS she has been trying to keep track of who has been rescued and who is still on the island. She said she was told there were two deaths on the island, but didn’t know the victims’ identities.

“They’re headed over there with Chinook [helicopters] that can load 20 people. And as soon as they find people, they wade through about waist-deep water. It is absolute destruction there. There were homes on fire from the gas. They went through hell, but – praise God – they’re getting them off as much as they can.”

The Van Osses picked up two parishioners who were airlifted to a field east of Fort Myers on the evening of Sept. 29, she said, and two more parishioners got off the next helicopter and were met by family.

“They literally went through hell. They’re shell-shocked. Some of them don’t even know where they’re going. They got a text through to us, saying, ‘We’re alive, we’re on a helicopter, we don’t even know where we’re landing.’”

But some parishioners were still waiting to be rescued on Sept. 30 – including some in their 90s, she said.

“We got one text at 5 this morning from four parishioners that are in a home together, that said they’re okay,” she said, but the helicopter rescues are going slowly because there aren’t many dry spots where they can land.

Another couple in their 90s managed to get one text message through to Van Oss, who contacted the sheriff’s department with their address, but she hasn’t heard from them since.

Van Oss said that unlike many buildings on the island, the church itself seems relatively intact.

“The church is standing – we got an aerial picture. There’s water all around it and it looks like some of the roof of the thrift shop came off. But the parish office is brand new. It was just completed last year, so that was hurricane-proof. Hopefully. We don’t know.”

In Fort Myers Beach, another Episcopal parish had even less information about the fate of their church. Aerial photos show a scene of total devastation in the barrier island town.

“Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island look like they will need to be 80% rebuilt,” one Florida emergency management official estimated.

With little cell service and roads impassable, there was no way of knowing what state St. Raphael’s Episcopal Church was in, said the Rev. Jean Hite, rector, who had evacuated south to Naples. But more importantly, she said, the parishioners are safe, including some she had been trying to reach the day before.

“The ones that we were really concerned about, we’ve located them. We don’t have direct contact with them, but indirectly, we know that our parishioners are OK,” Hite told ENS.

In Fort Myers, Epiphany Episcopal Church was seriously damaged. Photos shared by the Rev. Edward Gibbons, rector, showed ceiling tiles and insulation strewn about parish offices, blown-out windows in Sunday school rooms, a large tree uprooted in the parking lot and a bell lying on the ground, cracked.

“This is a difficult time but we will get through this together one day at a time,” Gibbons wrote.

With the area facing a long road to recovery, the diocesan convention scheduled for Oct. 14-15 in Punta Gorda has been canceled and will be rescheduled later.

“The last 36 hours have been harrowing for many of us in the Diocese of Southwest Florida,” Diocesan Bishop Dabney Smith wrote in an email on Sept. 29. “Many of our churches and huge numbers of our parishioners are now faced with the daunting task of recovering from the effects of Hurricane Ian. Such recovery efforts will take much time and energy.”

“This is a time when we are called to be the Body of Christ and to care deeply for one another,” Scharf said. “As the Apostle Paul reminds us, ‘If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member rejoices, all rejoice together.’”

Meanwhile, as Ian tracked north, in the Diocese of South Carolina, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church postponed a bicentennial celebration that had been scheduled for Sept. 30 because of the approaching storm. “The safety of our guests and vendors is our priority,” the church said. “We pray for the communities already impacted by Hurricane Ian.

Before hitting Florida and South Carolina, Hurricane Ian knocked out power across Cuba when it made landfall there on Sept. 27. Efforts to restore electricity hadn’t progressed far beyond the capital Havana by Sept. 29, according to Reuters.

“The Episcopal Church in Cuba has mobilized its local disaster committees who are assessing the damage, and potential responses, in their communities,” Kellie McDaniel, program officer for Episcopal Relief & Development said in a news release. “We pray for the people of Cuba who are living through several recent disasters.”

Ian was the second hurricane in a week to hit the Caribbean, after Hurricane Fiona. Episcopalians in Puerto Rico have been active since Fiona in bringing relief and assistance to neighbors in need through church-affiliated programs. The diocese set up support centers in Mayagüez, Ponce, Trujillo Alto and Maricao where church volunteers are distributing food and water.

Servicios Sociales Episcopales, an Episcopal social services nonprofit, also has been taking food and water to hard-hit neighborhoods. “We want to let these communities know that they are not alone and that we are committed to bringing a message of hope to the people who need it most,” the organization said in a recent Facebook post about hot food distribution in Toa Baja.

The eye of Hurricane Fiona swiped Puerto Rico on Sept. 18, briefly making landfall on the island’s southwest coast and dropping the most rain across the southern half of the island. The next day, the storm made landfall on the east coast of the Dominican Republic before turning northward.

Episcopal Relief & Development has been in contact with Episcopal and Anglican diocesan leaders in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos to assist them as they respond to their communities.

After initial power outages from Fiona, full electric service was restored Sept. 24 at the San Lucas Episcopal Medical Center, which continues to receive patients. Full service also was restored to the San Lucas Medical Tower by Sept. 29, according to updates on Facebook.

Power, however, remained out for about 233,000 homes in Puerto Rico as of Sept. 30, and lack of clean water also has been a widespread problem since Fiona.

President Joe Biden, in discussing the federal response to Hurricane Ian, pledged not to forget the needs of Puerto Ricans struggling to bounce back after Hurricane Fiona, which hit the U.S. territory five years after it was devastated by Hurricane Maria.

“I want to be clear: To the people of Puerto Rico, we’re not going away,” Biden said. “I am committed to you and the recovery of the island. We’ll stand by you for however long it takes to get it done.”

— Egan Millard is an assistant editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at emillard@episcopalchurch.org. David Paulsen is an editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

By Tony Kukulich

Stormwater and traffic problems took center stage when Beaufort County Councilmember Alice Howard met with residents from the Shell Point community last week.

Howard, who represents District 4, provided updates on studies related to both of those topics as well as efforts under way to rectify the identified problems.

“Shell Point has had stormwater issues for a very long time,” Howard said. “The houses were built in the ’60s and ’70s, the majority of them. There was an existing ditch system when they were built, but it’s become overgrown. Some of it ran behind the houses. Some of it ran in front of the houses. We’ve had some public meetings about that. It’s been a process, several years. Now we’re at the point where we need to do major work.”

To help determine what that work should be, the county engaged a stormwater study in 2020, and it was completed the following year. Its intent was to ascertain where the problems were and how they could be remediated. The study looked at current conditions and what conditions could look like 50 years in the future. The forward-looking portion of the study considered how the area’s drainage system would operate if improvements were made and if no upgrades were implemented.

“There are several different jurisdictions that have infrastructure in that 800-acre neighborhood. We’ve got state roads,” Beaufort County Stormwater Manager Katie Herrera. “We’ve got county roads. We’ve got county easements, and there’s also the Town of Port Royal. It’s mostly residential, but there are some commercial projects within our study area. Over time, there has been a consistency of complaints about drainage issues and flooding.”

The research ultimately spawned eight projects intended to resolve problems in the Shell Point neighborhood.

A memo from Herrera to Howard dated April 6 estimated a total project cost in excess of $4 million and stated that an application for a grant had been submitted to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division for funding through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

The memo also indicates that the county has published a request for proposal related to the project. It seeks firms to assist the county with the design and permitting for the projects proposed by the study. According to the memo, a firm is expected to be chosen before the start of the 2022-2023 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

“Now we’re trying to get these eight proposed projects off the ground by obtaining a design and engineer firm to help us with the design of the system, upgrades and changes, permitting and then eventually going to construction,” Herrera said. “So, it’s a multiyear project.”

Drainage problems in the area can be attributed to a number of sources. Poor maintenance of the drainage ditches is a prime factor. The elevation of the neighborhood is another contributing issue.

Because the neighborhood is very flat, floodwater tends to drain slowly. The low elevation also makes it possible for the marsh to enter the drainage pipes and ditches during flood events and flow into the residential areas instead of the other way around. Additionally, the drainage systems were designed for the environment of 50 or 60 years ago, they are simply overmatched by current conditions.

“The drainage conveyances just aren’t large enough to convey the flooding that the area experiences,” said Julianna Corbin, Beaufort County environmental engineer. “The need for larger drainage conveyances is more real now than ever.”

Because of the cost involved, the eight projects will likely not be taken on all at once, and according to Herrera, projects on property for which the county is responsible are taking top priority.

“They’ve committed to get the design work done for everything,” Howard explained. “Then we can divide and conquer. That’s where we are on the stormwater. It sounds like a long process, but it really isn’t because it’s been a problem forever.”

While traffic issues haven’t been as pervasive as the stormwater issues, Howard said that there have been issues with speeding, especially since the Montessori school opened on Broad River Drive. Speeding issues on Broad River Drive and Shell Point Road were brought to a head when a child in that area was struck by a speeding driver.

That incident led to a traffic study by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT) which focused on traffic in the vicinity of the intersection of those two roads. Some residents questioned why the study was not done more broadly. Howard answered that speeding issues have been the worst in that area.

“DOT did a study,” Howard said. “We were hoping we’d get a four-way stop. But, they didn’t do it while school was in session. They did it while they were on spring break last year. We didn’t get a four-way stop, but they did lower the speed limit to 25, which helps.”

The study also looked at speed calming devices, like speed bumps. Howard said that DOT is reluctant to use speed calming devices, and they require the approval of 85 percent of the residents in the area of their intended use before they will be deployed.

“If we get 85 percent of the residents to sign that they want these speed calming devices, the county will have to pay for them, not DOT,” Howard said. “They won’t pay for them.”

An effort to collect the signatures is under way. If eventually approved by the DOT, it will be the onus of the county to secure funding.

Tony Kukulich is a recent transplant to the Lowcountry. A native of Wilmington, Del., he comes to The Island News from the San Francisco Bay Area where he spent seven years as a reporter and photographer for several publications. He can be reached at tony.theislandnews@gmail.com.