Carolinas won’t let weather dampen resiliency
Another week of cloudy skies and another week of rain in the books. Last week was influenced by the tail end of Hurricane Florence coming through the Delaware Valley. But, before we even think of complaining, our thoughts should focus on the plight of the people in the Carolinas dealing with the horrific flooding that will continue to adversely affect their lives for days, weeks … and in some cases, many months to come.
And this is on top of Hurricane Matthew that hit much of the same area two years ago, causing catastrophic loss of lives, property and revenue.
Remember, much of that area depends heavily on tourism dollars. When the hurricanes come rolling in, the tourists move out. And, in many cases, they don’t return.
But don’t expect the people in places like Hilton Head Island, Charleston, Myrtle Beach or Wilmington, North Carolina to be wallowing in pity. They are too busy picking themselves up by their bootstraps and returning to normal as quickly as possible.
Their theme song should be the Frank Sinatra classic, “That’s Life.” Especially the verse: I’ve been up and down and over and out And I know one thing Each time I find myself flat on my face
I pick myself up and get back in the race. That’s Life. Having been to these areas so many times, in the wake of these natural disasters – going all the way back to Hurricane Hugo in 1989 – I have learned to appreciate the resilient nature of the people. They live, work and rebuild with a quiet resolve.
They firmly believe in the old saying, “What does not kill you, makes you stronger.”
John Farrell is the director of golf at the world-renowned Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island. His area was hit fullforce by Hurricane Matthew in 2016. He remembers the recovery effort well.
“Our course was closed completely for 30 days, then it slowly started to open step-by-step,” he reported. “That was only because our owners were willing to spend the money and our grounds crew worked dawn to dusk every day. We have a caddie force of about 60 men and they all joined the
grounds crew during that period.
“There were a lot of other businesses on the island that were closed for much longer,” Farrell continued. “Some were closed for six months … even longer.”
Fortunately for Hilton Head Island, and Charleston to the north, both of these fragile areas were spared when Hurricane Florence hit the Carolina coast 10 days ago. Harbour Town Golf Links and the rest of the courses in Sea Pines Plantation currently are in tournament condition. Other parts of the Carolinas were not so lucky.
The effects of the storm began, minimally, at the southern edge of the Greater Myrtle Beach area
– Pawley’s Island, Murrell’s Inlet, Surfside Beach – and got worse as it rolled north. The golf-rich towns of Little River, Calabash, Sunset Beach and Holden Beach were hit hard. Farther north, the Wilmington, North Carolina area, was devastated. And the flooding traveled inland.
Bob Seganti is the director of golf operations at two of Myrtle Beach’s premier golf courses – Caledonia and True Blue. Both are on the southern end of what is known as South Carolina’s Grand Strand – on Pawley’s Island.
Growing up in Drexel Hill, Delaware County, Seganti never had to deal with the devastation of hurricanes. Living in the Myrtle
Beach area for the last 25 years has brought him new life experiences.
“You learn to deal with these episodes of Mother Nature,” says Seganti. “We got hit pretty hard by Hurricane Matthew. This time we were much more fortunate. We had to clean up some debris. There was no flooding. We had both of our courses open by last Wednesday.
“The people to the north of us are in a much more serious situation,” he continues. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to them. First there is the hardship of the storm and all of the flooding and power outages in the aftermath. Then, especially in the golf industry, there is all of that loss of
revenue – heading into one of our busiest times of the year.”
The businesses that have bounced back quickly from the storm face another challenge. Getting to them is still extremely difficult. Large stretches of major arteries – I-95, I-40 and Highway 74 – have been closed for long periods of times. Many smaller roads are still closed.
Travel on these roads has been dangerous. Travel through some of the smaller towns is even more dangerous. Cars have been swept away by the raging waters. Downed power lines are an extreme danger. Pollution from the flooding is a longterm concern.
Yet, no doubt, within a
surprisingly short amount of time these areas of North and South Carolina will be back to normal. And that is a credit to the hard-working people who roll up their sleeves every time another storm hits the area.
But I don’t let it, let it get me down
‘Cause this fine old world it keeps spinnin’ around.
Tony Leodora is president of TL Golf Services, host of the weekly GolfTalk Live radio show on WNTP 990-AM and host of the Traveling Golfer television show — as well as editor of GolfStyles magazine. He is former sports editor of The Times Herald. Send comments to tlgolfservices@aol.com.