Hurricane Irma: Joint Base Charleston To Evacuate No Later Than 6 p.m.

CHARLESTON, SC — Joint Base Charleston Commander Jeffrey Nelson has ordered all families and personnel to evacuate the base no later than 6 p.m. Saturday.

Nelson put the base on Condition III alert status at 10 a.m. Saturday. The status is declared when the forecast calls for the arrival of 50-knot (58 mph) sustained winds or greater within 48 hours.

A limited evacuation order was issued Friday. (For more hurricane news or local news from South Carolina, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Charleston Patch, and click here to find your local South Carolina Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

"The safety of our service members and their families is our priority," said Nelson. "Members may not return until the limited evacuation order has been lifted. Due to potential complications associated with high tides, flooding, and tropical storms, the LEO is still in effect even though Governor McMaster has not identified all of our areas for evacuation. Please ensure you are in contact with your chain of command for questions concerning your situation."

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McMaster ordered mandatory evacuations Friday for some barrier islands in three counties.

For up to date hurricane condition information, base personnel, their families and residents can call the 628th Air Base Wing Public Affairs Straight Talk line at (843) 963-5581 for the latest information.

By 8 a.m. Saturday, Irma had downgraded to a Category 4 storm after making landfall in Cuba. Still packing maximum sustained winds of 130 mph, the storm had forced hurricane warnings to go up along much of Florida’s west coast. According to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center, wind hazards from Irma are expected to spread northward along the South Carolina coast where a hurricane watch has been issued and early next week, Irma is forecast to bring heavy rain to the state.

Photo by Desmond Boylan/Associated Press