This blog post shows what things look like after the hurricane left us about five days ago. While we have power back, there are whole sections of Bluffton still without power - an estimated 20,000 customers as of today (October 14, 2016).

An Infinite Amount of Hurricane Debris

Pine cone cleanup on Bears Islansd, after hurricane Matthew,
October 14, 2016

The hurricane left a big mess in our backyard. We have already picked over 7,000 pine cones and another 7,000 branches and sticks that fell out of the nearby trees. You can see one wheel barrow full of pine cones in the foreground and another wheel barrow of pine branches right behind it.  It takes at least 45 minutes to an hour to collect a full wheel barrow full.

Pickup truck loads of debris being hauled away, October 14, 2016

There seems like an endless amount of debris all over the place. Yet for all of the mess, it is nothing compared to those who got hit by hurricane Matthew and then, shortly thereafter, got hit by a series of tornadoes that were spawned by the hurricane temperatures. The old pickup truck has come in quite handy for removing the debris. Fortunately, we have plenty of places to dump this stuff - out of sight and out of mind.

The Biggest Pine Tree in South Carolina

Perhaps the largest pine tree in all of South Carolina, October 6, 2916

Perhaps the largest pine tree in all of South Carolina was toppled by the hurricane.  The tree is located on my brother in law's property and it was so strong that the roots were never upended. Instead the tree was ripped down the middle and torn apart along its weakest axis. Apparently, this tree had been hit by lightning some 30 years ago and this weak spot was the tree's undoing last week.

A family affair on a fallen giant of the Low Country

David, Jessica and their two daughters are seen sitting on the largest pine tree in South Carolina.  While some may question the accuracy of this statement, two South Carolinians who have lived in the Low Country for over 60 years both said this was the largest pine tree they ever saw.  To the best of our knowledge, they were not intoxicated when they came to that conclusion.  For those who want to see for themselves, you can visit Colleton River Plantation and travel to the Dye Club House. Just before reaching the club house you will see the tree on your right hand side.

The gnash that felled a giant Pine Tree

The gnash down the middle of this tree was its undoing.  To get a sense of the scale of the tree, look at the shoes in the foreground. The tree had a 9 foot circumference at about 5 feet about ground level.

Grandmother and granddaughter on a giant
grand daddy Pine Tree

Our 3 year old granddaughter exploring one of
the casaulty trees of hurricane Matthew

Our three year old grand daughter had the courage to climb on this massive tree.  The tree, was well over 100 years old and towered over the tree canopy along Colleton River.

More Cleanup and More Cleanup

Like a wounded whale, the Pine tree fell before winds
reaching at least 80 miles per hour

Our son was on hand to help us with the cleanup

A  massive Live Oak fell near our island road connecting our house to
that of our brother in law.

Trees as Protectors

Whiile there were many trees that were toppled by the hurricane, we were most amazed at how many trees did NOT fall down - or if they did lean or topple - they did not hit nearby houses or sheds.  In fact, we have had a passionate debate today about the sentient nature of trees.  Do you think they are aware of their surroundings?  Do you think they are mindful of our hearths and homes? Well if you drive around Bluffton, South Carolina you could easily conclude that it is not statistically possible for thousands of trees to topple, lean or break and yet only a handful of houses were destroyed or damaged by falling trees or tree limbs. For example, we have over 12 pine trees near enough to our house to potentially fall on it - if the right winds and environmental conditions were present.  Yet with 80 mile an hour winds beating down on these trees for at least 12 hours, none of them fell and few branches were broken.  That to my mind, either represents a miracle (the religious perspective), good luck (the humanistic perspective) or a psychic confluence of the "Wood Wide Web" working to protect the forest and its inhabitants (the cosmic perspective). 

This tree split down the middle.

This tree was right next to the "splitter tree" and never lost a branch

Coastal Surge Waters - The Real Danger from Hurricanes

This dock lost its floating deck and by some miracle
the ramp connector survived

This is the elevated dock that connected to
the floatring dock. It survived even though some
boards were lost.

This live oak was toppled years ago but who would know
that exccept for the author's wife.

Other Issues Homo Sapiens Contend With

There are always other issues that take time
to fix and sewage overflow was one of them.

Hilton Head reopened even though there was
lots of work still left to do. It is a mess

Insurance adjustors are the new "Gods of the
Low Country"