By Pamela Brownstein
On Friday, June 8, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley spoke at the Beaufort County Law Enforcement Center and urged residents to take responsibility for their own safety in case of a hurricane.
She said emergency officials on the local and state level are prepared should a disaster strike, and she expects the people in South Carolina to do the same.

[caption id="attachment_7127" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Gov. Nikki Haley speaks in Beaufort County as George McKinney, director of the S.C. Emergency Management Division, at left, looks on."]<a href="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Haley1-bw.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-7127" title="Haley1 bw" src="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Haley1-bw-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>[/caption]

“You need to know where you’re going to go,” Haley said, if there is an evacuation.
The governor and other local and state emergency responders emphasized the importance of having a preparedness plan that includes  having water, batteries, a full tank of gas, and even good tire pressure. The biggest change this year is that evacuations will not be voluntary, only mandatory. This way, officials said, once the evacuation is issued, residents are likely to take it more seriously.
Other speakers included Todd Ferguson, Beaufort County Emergency Management Director; George McKinney, Director of the South Carolina Emergency Management Division; Dick Jenkins, State Traffic Management Engineer for the Department of Transportation; and Robert Woods, Commander of the South Carolina Highway Patrol Traffic Management Unit.
For more information about evacuation routes and hurricane preparedness, go to the Beaufort County website at www.bcgov.net.