COLUMBIA, S.C. — Hurricane Dorian has come and gone in South Carolina, but it is still too early to tell the total damage the storm caused to the state.
Friday marks day six since South Carolina Emergency Management Division has been all hands on deck. Now, however, everyone is shifting gears into recovery mode.
"The storm ended up being significantly less impactful than we thought originally," SCEMD Director Kim Stenson said. "We are very fortunate there, but there are impacts."
Stenson said the damage assessment is the first step towards recovery, but it is still too early to know. He said it will most likely be next week before they know what kind of damages Dorian caused.
"We haven't heard of any water rescues, we've heard of a couple sources where there were evacuations that were assisted in terms of water or that sort of thing," Stenson said. "As far as I know there are no storm related deaths."
Along with damage assessments working to have power restored is a main priority.
"Shelters are still open and of course the office of regulatory staff is working closely with the utilities for power restoration, but in both of those areas people sheltered and power restoration the numbers are going down," Stenson said.
The governor lifted all the mandatory evacuations orders Friday, so evacuees could expect traffic as they reenter their communities.
Luckily, SCDOT said they are not concerned with the Waccamaw River that is typically prone to flooding.
"At this point in time we are not anticipating any issues with the Waccamaw River with regards to road closures or bridge over toppings, so we are very pleased with the river forecast," SCDOT Secretary of Transportation Christy Hall said.
Meanwhile Stenson wants to make the message clear to always heed warnings no matter the storm.
"We need to keep the message up that it is a life safety issue," Stenson said. "When the governor issues an evacuation it's based on the best science that we have at the time and we need clearance time to get everyone out of the evacuated areas within a reasonable period of time before the arrival of tropical storms winds."
Governor Henry McMaster along with other agencies are now in the coastal areas assessing damage there.