CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Hurricane Florence has forced some cities and counties to put in nighttime curfews.
City council approved the curfew during a teleconference meeting Wednesday. The curfew will be from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
The curfew starts Thursday night and will continue until the mayor removes it.
“We don’t need folks out in the danger of the darkness,” said city administrator Adam Emrick.
The city says the 12-hour curfew prevents anyone from going outside, unless they’re looking for food, water, shelter or have a medical reason.
“That also helps clear the streets for our safety crews to be able to get to and from places when the streets may be narrowed and constricted by debris,” Emrick said.
Emrick says city officials went door-to-door in flood zones and asked residents to evacuate.
The city mapped out those who said they were staying to help emergency crews respond faster.
“We know there are areas in the city that will likely flood in this hurricane,” said Emrick. “They flooded in Hurricane Joaquin in 2015. They flooded in (Hurricane) Matthew in ’16.”
Duke Energy told the city about 1,200 workers are waiting in Marion County to help restore power after the storm. Emrick says Conway has no plans to shut off water or other utilities.
City crews will pick up yards Thursday before Florence arrives.
“So as long as it’s safe for our crews to be out tomorrow picking up yard debris before the storm, we’re going to be doing that,” Emrick said.
A curfew started in Myrtle Beach at 10 p.m. Wednesday. That curfew goes until 6 a.m.
Surfside Beach is another Grand Strand community with a curfew. The curfew there starts at 8 p.m. Thursday. It will also go until 6 a.m. and continues until further notice.
Further inland, the city of Mullins and Robeson County will also have curfews in place Thursday night.
