For the 100 or so diehards that remained on Tybee Island through Hurricane Matthew, Sunday morning dawned sunny and clear. And empty.
Those who evacuated were still being prevented from returning to the island while the clean up continued. Mayor Jason Buelterman said Sunday that state transportation officials need to sign off on the main bridge before he can allow residents to come home. Georgia Department of Transportation road crews were clearing downed trees and railroad ties scattered over U.S.-80.
Most of the roads are on the island were passable Sunday at noon. A police roadblock remained on the Bull River Bridge.
On the main drag of Butler Ave. a woman was walking down sunlit Butler Avenue Sunday morning carrying an American flag over her shoulder.
“I found this flag on the ground and it’s not supposed to be on the ground,” said Renee Cantonwine, a local.
She rode out Hurricane Matthew at the Sandcastle Inn. That turned out to be wise decision. Trees all around her Lovell Street crashed and splintered. Miraculously, none were direct hits. But her home was hidden from sight.
“When the power went out and the wind came up, it was scary,” Cantonwine said. “And the hotel’s sign blew up.”
A dozen state troopers arrived on Tybee this morning to look for looters and keep the peace. But it’s rather peaceable already with only a tiny fraction of the island’s 3,000 residents around.
While utility trucks are also on-island, it could be days until the power is restored.
So, there’s nothing left to do but clean up and find a friend with a generator.
Cantonwine and friends huddled under a carport eating breakfast, a generator humming, the TV on. They were getting ready for the University of Georgia-University of South Carolina football game this afternoon.
“There’s nothing else to do until we get the power on,” she said.
Then she picked up Old Glory and headed back up Tybee’s main drag.
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