Despite threats of severe weather that required the Savannah River Site to brace for impact, the facility emerged unscathed after Hurricane Florence slammed into South Carolina last week.
The storm, which has been linked to dozens of deaths in several coastal states, had no impact on missions or facilities at the 310-square-mile Department of Energy complex near the city of Aiken. The Energy Department and its contractors did not have to reduce the SRS workforce ot take any other precautions, a site spokesperson said.
The Savannah River Site is located about 130 miles from the Charleston coast. Minus some rain, the facility and surrounding region largely avoided the hurricane.
The site prepared for the storm last week, including making sure it had ample fuel for generators in the event of a power loss. Site management also outlined how many safety, security, and operations staffers it would need, depending on how big of a threat Florence was expected to pose to the region.
On Sept. 12, SRS went into Operational Control 2 mode, which requires the site to prepare to reduce its workforce of 11,000 employees to an essential staff only, if needed. That number in the past has been about 350 workers.
The announcement came after new projections for Florence’s path included more rain and storms for the Aiken-Augusta region. However, that danger did not materialize in the area.
The storm made landfall along the Carolinas a week ago. It was responsible for at least 36 deaths, and caused destruction along the coast of South and North Carolina, before finally petering out this week.
