Tybee Island is a barrier island in Chatham County, Georgia, eighteen miles east of Savannah. The island is the easternmost point in the state of Georgia. A meeting of Chatham County and Tybee Island city leaders was held last night inside of Tybee’s City Hall regarding Category 4 Hurricane Matthew. The meeting was surprisingly closed-door session despite them being every few hours for officials to get updates on the major Hurricane Matthew.
In comparison with Matthew, September 2016’s Tropical Storm Hermine was a cap-gun warning shot. Your scribe considered it a colossal dud.
On Tuesday, Tybee Island city workers were reportedly boarding up windows at City Hall, the library and fire station.
Despite lifeguarding season’s end last month, tourists were seen yesterday swimming in Tybee’s waters. Today should see the double red flag posted on Tybee’s beaches, which would close the waters to risk oblivious bathers. Public beach access will likely cease soon thereafter.
Tybee Island’s annual Pirate Fest is scheduled for this weekend. It usually brings a crowd of about 20,000. Matthew is likely to evince a very different communal Argghh.
Legend has it that eons ago Mother Nature took a bite out of the southeast Atlantic coastline with Savannah being in the center of the bite. She so appreciated what she tasted that she vowed to protect Georgia’s shores for eternity. As currently predicted, Matthew promises to be something more than a nibble. In fact, Matthew could be the much feared sleeping giant storm of Georgia that meteorologists have talked about for decades.
Georgia is very hurricane vulnerable despite the fact that one has not hit it for several decades. The last time a Category 3 or stronger hurricane hit the Georgia coast was in the 1890s. Savannah holds the dubious distinction of ranking fourth on the list of Top 5 Hurricane Overdue Cities in a report by Rick Knabb, a hurricane expert at the National Hurricane Center.
Unless a significant weather pattern change occurs in the next 24 hours, Savannah’s charmed life is about to end. When Matthew hits or closely skirts the Georgia coast, many of the Peach Tree State’s low lying coastal communities will be underwater. How much is uncertain. Should Matthew remain a Category 3 force storm and hit the Georgia coast, the storm surge could range over 25 feet.
There’s no harm in hoping for the best as long as you are prepared for the worst.
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