By Natalie M. Zeigler
City Manager
Major storm events — things like ice storms or hurricanes — will sometimes do us the great courtesy of informing us well in advance that they’re coming. This gives our firefighters, police officers and Public Service crews time to prepare, to make sure supplies and personnel are all in place and ready for wherever and whenever they are needed.
Other times, damaging weather whips up seemingly out of nowhere, as it did on July 21, when heavy rains and unusually strong winds descended on Hartsville. We faced torn-down power lines and fallen trees lying twisted or cracked wide open in roadways. At times like this, we should be glad we have public servants who are ready to go, with or without a generous warning time.
Our firefighters and police officers worked long into the night responding to the calls which came out of the storm. Chief Jeff Burr tells us that from 7 p.m. that evening through 2 a.m., the Hartsville Fire Department responded to 42 storm-related calls. Our Public Service crews were also working late into the night, with assistance called in from Arborworks Tree Company, removing trees from roadways. On the first night alone, we cleared away an estimated two dozen large trees.
Of course, trees came crashing down in many spots other than roadways. Residents in many parts of Hartsville were faced with toppled trunks blocking access on their properties, or worse, hanging only half-fallen against other trees. Some residents were able to remove their debris and others were not, which is why we should once again highlight the amazing work of the Chesterfield Baptist Association Disaster Relief. The chainsaws and bulldozers of this group were grinding away at numerous residential sites around Hartsville the week after the storm, turning collapsed trees into firewood and ready-for-pickup debris bundles. Everything they did was for free. We are thankful that these extraordinary volunteers, who take on relief work all over the nation, have made such an impact here at home, and we’re glad the Fire Department could help them with site evaluation for their work.
A freak storm like the one we had two weeks ago serves as a great reminder of the threat which extreme weather always gives us. Some dangers are more predictable than others. There may have been only three named tropical cyclones in the Atlantic this year, but the height of the 2015 hurricane season is now upon us, bringing the need to maintain emergency supplies ahead of a power outage or road closure. Whatever comes our way this fall, we’ll have the men and women of the Hartsville Fire Department, Police Department and Public Service Department on our sides, ready to respond.
Natalie Zeigler is the City Manager of Hartsville. For more information, call City Hall at 843-383-3015 or email info2@hartsvillesc.gov.