More than 40 homes were destroyed and more than 2500 people forced to evacuate on thursday 23 April, as wildfires swept through a coastal region of South Carolina and headed for North Myrtle Beach. Officials of North Myrtle Beach were urgently getting locals to pack up belongings and flee the area after Governer Mark Sanford declared a state of emergency. So far no injuries have been reported since the fire began on Wednesday, yet rapidly headed toward a heavily concentrated residential and tourist area, which led to the mass evacuation and the closing of schools and businesses in North Myrtle Beach. The blaze quickly spread, from starting just west of Myrtle Beach, due to hight winds of up to 25 miles an hour and a very low humidity.
The blaze stopped short of the Intracoastal Waterway separating the mainland from the coastal area, which firefighters were hoping would act as a natural barrier.
The blaze is the worst to hit the area since 1976 and is the worst wildfire on record as far as the amount of homes lost.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment