Above: Dorian's wrath. Below-left: Down and out. Below-right: Aftermath.
perfectly clear what was happening during those moments
when darkness was at its deepest.
When the storm finally quieted the following day, I was
able to walk a few blocks along roads made impassable to
cars and dangerous to pedestrians. Huge trees and mountains
of debris littered the streets—showing us how incredibly
fortunate we were to have survived the night without
incident. It seemed to us it could be weeks before the roads
were clear enough for evacuees to return.
Incredibly, crews were out all over the Island almost
immediately after the storm. Trees that had blocked the
streets were cut up and stacked alongside the roads until
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they could be picked up by subsequent crews. The debris
that had covered the streets like a blanket was blown to the
side to clear the way for cars. Even the bike path was clear for
the most part within two days of the storm. Power company
crews were everywhere, repairing damaged equipment
and restoring service block by block, neighborhood by
neighborhood. Governor McMaster lifted the evacuation
order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, September 6; Kiawah residents
were allowed to return the following day. Power was restored
to the vast majority of residences by the end of Saturday,
September 7.
Naturally Kiawah