By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Beaufort County has announced that the Sands Beach boat landing has been closed until further notice due to damage caused by Tropical Storm Helene which hit Beaufort County on Sept. 27.
The boat landing, which is owned by the town of Port Royal but managed by the county, has been closed since the tropical storm, but the announcement was made two weeks later as Beaufort County prepared for a second tropical storm, Milton.
Beaufort County Public Works Department is working with marine contractors to figure out the extent of the damage to the boat landing so that they can begin to repair it as soon as possible.
The Henry Robinson Boardwalk, which is located next to the boat landing, also sustained significant damage during Tropical Storm Helene.
The boardwalk, which is both owned and managed by the town of Port Royal, will also remain closed to the public as the town puts out a request for bids to get the damaged section repaired, Town Manager Van Willis said.
Willis said that in the meantime, they are in contact with the insurance company so that as soon as the bidding process is complete, they will be able to move forward with the repairs as soon as possible. He said that he expects for the repairs to take roughly four to six weeks.
Sands Beach, which can be found on the other side of the boat landing, is currently open to the public even though the boat landing and boardwalk are not, according to Willis.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
