Mobile Home Sales in Green Sea, SC

What used to be a rare one-two punch of consecutive hurricanes hitting about the same place in the United States weeks apart seems to be happening more often, and a new study says climate change will make back-to-back storms more frequent and nastier in the future.

Using computer simulations, scientists at Princeton University calculate that the deadly storm duet that used to happen once every few decades could happen every two or three years as the world warms from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, according to a study in Monday’s Nature Climate Change.

Louisiana and Florida residents have already felt it.

In 2021, major Hurricane Ida blasted Louisiana with 150 mph winds. Just 15 days later a weakening Nicholas came nearby, close enough for its wind, rain and storm surge to add to the problems, said study co-author Ning Lin, a risk engineer and climate scientist at Princeton. Her study looked at not just the storms but the problems back-to-back hurricanes caused to people.

The Ida-Nicholas combo came after Louisiana was hit in 2020 by five hurricanes or tropical storms: Cristobal, Marco, Laura, Delta and Zeta. Laura was the biggest of those, packing 150-mph winds.

After Laura, relief workers had set up a giant recovery center in a parking lot of a damaged roofless church when Delta approached, so all the supplies had to be jammed against the building and battened down for the next storm, said United Way of Southwest Louisiana President Denise Durel.

“You can’t imagine. You’re dumbfounded. You think it can’t be happening to us again,” Durel recalled 2 1/2 years later from an area that is still recovering. “The other side of it is that you can’t wish it upon anyone else either.”

Florida in 2004 had four hurricanes in six weeks, prompting the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration to take note of a new nickname for the Sunshine State — “The Plywood State,” from all the boarded-up homes.

“We found a trend,” Lin said. “Those things are happening. They’re happening more often now than before.”

There’s a caveat to that trend. There haven’t been enough hurricanes and tropical storms since about 1950 – when good recordkeeping started – for a statistically significant trend, Lin said. So her team added computer simulations to see if they could establish such a trend and they did.

Lin’s team looked at nine U.S. storm-prone areas and found an increase in storm hazards for seven of them since 1949. Only Charleston, South Carolina, and Pensacola, Florida, didn’t see hazards increase.

The team then looked at what would happen in the future using a worst-case scenario of increasing carbon dioxide emissions and a more moderate scenario in line with current efforts worldwide to reduce greenhouse gases. In both situations, the frequency of back-to-back storms increased dramatically from current expectations.

The reason isn’t storm paths or anything like that. It’s based on storms getting wetter and stronger from climate change as numerous studies predict, along with sea levels rising. The study looked heavily at the impacts of storms more than just the storms themselves.

Studies are split on whether climate change means more or fewer storms overall, though. But Lin said it’s just the nastier nature and size that increases the likelihood of back-to-back storms hitting roughly the same area.

Any increased frequency in sequential storms in the past was likely due to a reduction in traditional air pollution rather than human-caused climate change; when Europe and the United States halved the amount of particles in the air since the mid-1990s it led to 33% more Atlantic storms, a NOAA study found last year. But any future increase will likely be more from greenhouse gases, said two scientists who weren’t part of the study.

“For people in harm’s way this is very bad news,” University of Albany hurricane scientist Kristen Corbosiero, who wasn’t part of the study, said in an email. “We (scientists) have been warning about the increase in heavy rain and significant storm surges with landfalling TCs (tropical cyclones) in a warming climate and the results of this study show this is the case.”

Corbosiero and four other hurricane experts who weren’t part of the study said it made sense. Some, including Corbosiero, say it is hard to say for sure that the back-to-back trend is already happening.

Colorado State University hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach said the emphasis on worsening effects on people was impressive, with storm surge from rising seas and an increase in rainfall from warmer and stronger major hurricanes.

“You have to have faith and be able to move forward. You’ve just got to be in constant motion,” Durel, the Louisiana United Way president, said. “Our neighbors mean much more than wallowing in aggravation.”

Patrick Martin has wanted to be the Green Sea Floyds head football coach for longer than he can remember.

On Monday, he got his wish.

Martin, who had been the Trojans’ defensive coordinator for the past six seasons, was officially promoted by Horry County Schools into his first varsity head coaching position.

“I’m home,” said Martin, a 2005 graduate of the high school. “My great uncle’s name is on the stadium. It means a lot to be the coach of my home school."

This was the third time Martin applied for the position. He also interviewed when Donnie Keifer was hired in 2017 and then again when Joey Price was given the position in 2020.

In a response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the district announced after Monday’s board meeting that Martin was ultimately selected over Scotland County coach Richard Bailey. Those two were among 28 official applicants and 18 first-round interviews, according to the district.

Five candidates received a second-round interview, as well.

This is the second time in less than a year that Horry County Schools has declared that Bailey was a finalist for a head coaching position here. Last spring, he was named as one of four finalists for the North Myrtle Beach job that ultimately went to Chiefs’ defensive coordinator Greg Hill.

Bailey has coached two North Carolina teams - Scotland County and Jack Britt - to a combined six state championship game appearances and has won 236 games in 22 seasons as a head coach.

Yet Martin’s knowledge of the program’s inner workings and his long-established ties to the school pushed him to the top of the list.

“That’s what stood out to me. He is Green Sea Floyds,” GSF Athletics Director Derek Martin [no relation] said Monday evening. “He loves this place and this place loves him. That’s one of the biggest things. The kids love playing for him.

“He’s been here. He knows this community. The community knows him. He knows what it’s going to take to get it back to the level it was at. We’re going to need somebody who is goIng to be here 24/7/365. He’s really invested.”

Patrick Martin has been that since returning to his alma mater on a professional basis in 2016. Prior to that, he spent one year at Georgetown and four at Central Middle School across the border in Whiteville. He graduated from Coastal Carolina University in 2010 after being a reserve for the football team and spent his first non-playing football season as an assistant at Loris while substitute teaching.

Martin will be replacing Price, who resigned on Oct. 31, three days after the completion of the 2022 season. Green Sea Floyds was 1-9 last season and missed the playoffs. Price was 10-15 in three years with the Trojans but 250-65 overall in a long career that included stops in both North Carolina and South Carolina.

The task of getting Green Sea Floyds back closer to its championship levels now rests with Martin. And while he can say that he was part of two of the best teams in school history - the 2019 and 2018 title squads under Kiefer - his own coaching change altered Martin’s trajectory.

Prior to 2017, Martin was always an offensive coach. But knowing he wanted to one day wear the primary head set, he accepted Kiefer’s offer to switch to defense.

All the Trojans’ defense developed into was one of the best in the state.

“I knew I wanted to be a head coach one day, so I needed to learn the other side of the ball,” Martin said. “I learned what offenses are trying to do to you. That’s probably the best decision I ever made.”

Monday confirmed it.

Turnovers have been an Achilles heel for Green Sea Floyds all season. Friday night was no different as the Trojans dropped their fifth straight game, falling 34-19 to Lamar.

“Our kids played hard. We played as hard as we could play,” Trojans head coach Joey Price said. “We had a great week of practice. We came in with what we thought was a great game plan. They have good players and our guys stood up to them. But we gave up five touchdowns.”

It was also a short week for the Trojans as they battled Lake View on Monday after Hurricane Ian postponed their initial contest.

“It ain’t no excuse,” Price said.

The two teams traded punts to start the game with neither team crossing midfield. A decent return from the Silver Foxes on the Trojans' first punt of the game set Lamar up just inside Trojan territory.

All it took was one play for Lamar to open the scoring.

After the Trojans still couldn’t get across midfield, the defense looked to stop the Silver Foxes, forcing a fourth-and-2 situation. Instead, Lamar went for 32 yards, ultimately setting up the Silver Foxes’ second touchdown of the night.

Trailing 13-0, the Trojans mustered up a quality drive that included Banks Lovett finding Shamar Jordan inside the Lamar 5-yard line on 4th-and-10. Lovett would muscle his way in on the next play to make it 13-7.

Lamar tacked on its third touchdown of the night with less than a minute to go, scoring on a fourth-and-9 from the Trojans 24.

Coming out of the half, Lovett saw his pass picked off by the Silver Foxes. Lamar took advantage of the turnover, turning it into six points to make it 25-7 midway through the third.

Penalties were also an issue for the Trojans Friday night.

The ensuing Trojans drive was filled with questionable calls, including a personal foul that was called against Green Sea Floyds after Lovett appeared to be tossed to the ground after the play was ruled dead.

The penalty made it fourth-and-38 and an errant snap was recovered in the end zone by the Trojans for a safety to make it 27-7.

Following Lovett’s second interception of the night, a pass interference call set up Lamar’s fifth touchdown, making it 34-7.

“They didn’t call anything in the first half,” was Price’s only comment regarding the calls Friday night.

Despite being down 27, the Trojans did have a spark left in them as Dakare Smith took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown.

The defense stood tall on the next possession, nearly intercepting the Silver Foxes and forcing them to punt.

The Trojans marched down the field and on fourth-and-9 Lovett scrambled into the end zone to make it 34-19 after the missed two-point conversion.

With less two minutes to go, Lamar recovered the onside kick, ending the Trojans' chance at a comeback.

“We had opportunities all along the game. When your defense gives up that much, sometimes is disheartening for everybody,” Price said.

Despite the result, Price was proud of the way his team fought.

“We got people playing both ways,” he said. “It’s not like nobody’s just playing one way and it’s offense versus defense because it’s not. It’s part of the game.”

The Trojans fall to 1-7 on the year and 0-2 in region play. Green Sea Floyds is off next week and will return to the gridiron on Oct. 21 at home against Hannah-Pamplico.

Kickoff between the Trojans and HP is set for 7:30 p.m.

When Tony Heilbronn was hired to take over the top athletics spot at North Myrtle Beach in 2021, he knew Horry County Schools was close to approving a district-wide synthetic turf project that would improve the Chiefs’ multi-use stadium.

Now, he’s mere months away from seeing the project not only started but completed.

North Myrtle Beach’s shared-use facility is slated to begin at or around spring break in April. With two of the remaining four projects (Green Sea Floyds, Conway) having already commenced and Aynor’s tentatively set to begin in the next week or two, North Myrtle Beach’s impending upgrades will help complete one of the district’s bigger athletics projects in years.

It will also put the Chiefs in line with most of Region VI-4A.

“It’s exciting for us,” said Heilbronn, the Chiefs’ athletics director. “The three Florence schools in our region all got turf last year. Myrtle Beach has had it for years. Each person has their views on turf. But it puts us on a level playing field with the majority of its region.”

Heilbronn’s point is especially meaningful with what’s on the immediate gridiron horizon. In the fall of 2023, every one of the Chiefs’ varsity football games will take place on an artificial playing surface. In addition to its home games, North Myrtle Beach will play at Socastee, Loris, West Florence, South Florence and Myrtle Beach.

The only team on the Chiefs’ regular-season schedule that doesn’t play its home games on synthetic turf is Hartsville. The Red Foxes will visit Little River this year.

However, this goes much further than just football, and that’s part of the reason the district elected to save North Myrtle Beach for last in this run of upgrades. Green Sea Floyds, Conway and Aynor do not have boys and girls lacrosse teams. Horry County Schools, then, was able to limit disruptions for spring sports by pushing them to the front of the schedule.

Heilbronn said clear communication from the district allowed him to minimize the impact at his school by front-loading track and girls soccer events (the Chiefs’ boys soccer team already plays at the middle school).

“It gave me ample opportunity when the schedules were being built to plan for it,” he said.

Likewise, given the January starts at Conway and Aynor, the boys and girls soccer teams at those schools could be able to finish out the regular season on a newly unveiled playing surface if certain breaks fall their way. Both schools have made arrangements for off-site practices and/or games in the meantime.

Each individual turf project is scheduled to take a minimum of 10 weeks to complete. However, that doesn’t include potential delays for weather or staffing shortages. The first crop of stadium upgrades - Socastee, Loris, Carolina Forest and St. James - mostly went off without a hitch. St. James football did have to flip home sites for its first two 2022 regular-season games, meaning the Sharks will have seven home games in 2023.

It was a relatively small inconvenience given the long-term benefits, mostly the lack of wear and tear on the eight stadiums, or the manpower necessary for upkeep. Heilbronn estimated that his coaches previously spent at least five hours per week mowing and painting the field, a timeline that was most shared by his counterparts during their natural grass days.

At Conway, those days are officially over.

Initially, Conway was set to have its upgrades conducted in 2024 before the district made the decision to move up the Tigers’ plan during the fall. A week ago, the old turf was dug out in preparation for leveling and implementation of the foundational layers.

“This is something that has excited our student athletes, our school and our community,” Conway Athletics Director Anthony Carroll said. “Just excited to know our student athletes will be playing on a top notch surface in a beautiful stadium. We are so thankful to Horry County Schools for their dedication and commitment to making this project happen for all of Conway.”

Reach Hannah Strong Oskin at 843-488-7242 or follow her on Twitter @HannahSOskin.

May River didn’t go outside of the program to name its new football coach.

May River offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Richard Bonneville was named the new Sharks coach, the school announced on Monday. He is the second coach in the Bluffton high school’s history.

Bonneville replaces Rodney Summers, who stepped down in November.

“WE HAVE OUR GUY!” May River football’s Twitter account posted on Monday afternoon.

Bonneville has more than 20 years of coaching experience with stops at Westwood and Richland Northeast.

Bonneville was at Westwood and came to May River with Summers in 2016 when the program began, and he was part of the Sharks’ success.

After a pair of two-win seasons to start, May River went 10-0 in the 2018 regular season, won its first region title and advanced to the third round of the 3A playoffs before losing to Dillon. May River made it to the Lower State championship the following season before losing to Dillon again. The Sharks moved up to Class 4A in 2020, going 4-2 in the COVID-shortened year, and then the team won eight games in 2021.

May River went 5-6 this season and lost to Myrtle Beach 24-21 on a last-minute touchdown in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.

The school also announced Tom Dyer was promoted to offensive coordinator and Jeremy Dyer will be defensive coordinator.

School — Former School — New Coach

Aiken — Olajuwon Paige — Dwayne Garrick

Beaufort Academy — Mark Clifford — Nic Shuford Barnwell — Dwayne Garrick — TBA Berea — Julius Prince — Drew Chisholm Berkeley — Jerry Brown — Eric Lodge Clover — Brian Lane — Perry Woolbright Colleton County — Kris Howell — Adam Kinloch Columbia — Jason Bush — TBA Conway — Carlton Terry — Josh Pierce Darlington — Raymond Jennings — Jamie Johnson Dillon Christian — Christian Wolfe — Donell Stanley

Dorman — Dustin Curtis — TBA Eau Claire — Shaq Hilton — TBA Edisto — Preston Deaver — TBA First Baptist — Johnny Waters — Jamaal Birch

Georgetown — Jimmy Noonan — Bradley Adams

Great Falls — DeMarcus Simons — TBA Green Sea Floyds — Joey Price — Patrick Martin Hanahan — Art Craig — Milan Turner

Hannah-Pamplico — Jamie Johnson — Trey Woodberry Heathwood Hall — Danny Lewis — TBA Hillcrest — Anthony Frate — TBA Lamar — Josh Pierce — TBA Landrum — Jason Farmer — Brent Bridges Lexington — Perry Woolbright — TBA Mauldin — Sayre Nesmith — TBA May River — Rodney Summers — Richard Bonneville Mullins — John Williams — TBA

Ninety-Six — Matthew Owings — TBA North Central — Ryan McDonnell (interim) — Daniel Sisk North Charleston — Devon Smalls — TBA Orangeburg Prep — Andy Palmer — Don Shelley Palmetto — Doug Shaw — TBA Pickens — Chad Smith — James Reynolds Pinewood Prep — J.W. Myers — TBA Spring Valley — Robin Bacon — Nygel Pearson Thomas Heyward — Nic Shuford — Tony McGeary

Walhalla — Padgett Johnson — Chris Stone Ware Shoals — Chris Johnston — Chris Dodson Westside — Scott Earley — Brian Lane Williamsburg Academy — Don Shelley — Tyler Boyd Woodmont — Jeff Murdock — Ty Sutherland Woodruff — Bradley Adams — Brett Sloan Wren — Jeff Tate — Anthony Frate

Cold-stunned sea turtles recently stranded on the coast of Cape Cod have made their way to the South Carolina Aquarium, where they are being rehabbed by staffers at the Sea Turtle Care Center.

Fifteen turtles, some in critical condition, were admitted to the aquarium last week where they were examined, given fluids and antibiotics and slowly reintroduced to food a few days after settling in.

The turtles were lethargic and still suffering from the stress of the cold when they first arrived to the aquarium, Sea Turtle Care Center manager Melissa Ranly said.

“We’ve been treating them for those impacts such as frostbite and dermatitis, eye injuries and lung complications from the cold,” Ranly said. “The turtles are responding well to their treatments.”

More than 150 sea turtles were stranded on the Cape Cod coast when water temperatures dropped, according to a news release from the aquarium. The cold-blooded reptiles rely on the environment to regulate their body temperature.

Sea turtles are known to migrate to warmer waters in the fall. But if they are unable to do so before temperatures drop, they can experience hypothermia, the aquarium said.

Cold-stunning can make the animals weak and inactive. The condition typically occurs when water temperatures dip below 50 degrees, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The animals can die if temperatures stay low and they aren’t rescued.

Each year thousands of sea turtles can be affected by these cold-stunning events that occur most commonly along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

The turtles rescued last week were initially transported to a wildlife sanctuary in Massachusetts. Forty-three of them were then sent to other parts of the East Coast for care, including Charleston.

The aquarium said six green and nine Kemp’s ridley sea turtles came to South Carolina by plane in banana boxes. Staffers began caring for them on the drive to the turtle care center.

The turtles were put in shallow water tanks to rest.

“They are resilient and showing signs of improvement every day,” Ranly said.

Once the animals are stabilized, guests will be able to visit the turtles, all since named after constellations and planets, in the aquarium’s first-floor hospital.