Port Royal Faces Hurricane Helene: A Fallen Tree Brings Unexpected Honey Bee Surprise

Port Royal Braces for Hurricane Helene: An Unexpected Twist

A Wild Night in Port Royal

As the winds of Hurricane Helene began to sweep through Port Royal late Thursday night, residents braced themselves for what could be a turbulent time. Predictions of the storm’s impact had already triggered a tropical storm watch for the Lowcountry, but nobody quite expected the chaos that would ensue. At approximately 2:45 a.m. Friday, the peaceful town of 16,000 residents experienced a jolt, leaving one local resident, Mark Sutton, wondering what just happened.

The Sound of Destruction

Sutton was startled out of his sleep by a loud bang. Rushing to the window, he witnessed a colossal **60-foot-tall pine tree** crashing down onto his utility shed, completely demolishing it. “It got clobbered,” Sutton recounted with an air of disbelief. The utility shed was meant to be a practical space where he could store his tools, but instead, it became a casualty of Mother Nature’s fury.

Nature’s Sweet Surprise

But here’s where the story takes an unexpected turn: the fallen tree was also home to thousands of honey bees. This twist of fate might just bring some sweetness to a rather sour situation for the Sutton brothers. Mike Sutton, Mark’s twin, plans to reach out to a local beekeeper to see if they can successfully relocate the colony and, ideally, salvage the honey as well. “If they can get the queen, they can lure the rest to the box and relocate them,” Mark explained, half-amazed at the resilience of nature amidst all the chaos.

Swarming Around the Wreckage

Peering out the window later in the day, Sutton exclaimed how the area was buzzing with activity: “I think I can see the honeycomb in there. They are swarming all around it.” Thousands of bees continued to hover around the toppled nest, creating quite the spectacle. Remarkably, Sutton wasn’t even aware of the bees’ existence until the tree fell—a sleeper at night, like many of us, but left with a story that would make anyone sit up and take notice.

Getting Through the Storm

Having lived in Port Royal his entire life and experienced countless storms, Mark mentioned feeling particularly rattled by Helene. “It was actually pretty scary,” he admitted. Estimates of the wind gusts were hovering over 65 mph, which made for a nerve-wracking night. The high winds didn’t just claim his shed; a cherished cherry tree in his backyard also fell victim to the violent gusts, snapped off as if it were a mere twig.

Damage Report

Across Port Royal and neighboring Beaufort, the havoc wreaked by the storm was evident. Reports of downed trees were flooding in, as were tales of shaky waterfronts. A portion of the boardwalk in Port Royal washed away, while several boats at the Beaufort marina drifted to shore on the Beaufort River, a reminder of how quickly nature can turn turbulent.

The Next Steps

Mark Sutton is looking ahead despite the destruction around him. He’s in the process of moving into a new house at 1703 Edinburgh Ave, having transported the now-ruined utility shed as part of the transition. Ironically, it wasn’t even positioned in its final spot before the tree squashed it flat like a pancake. “I waited too long,” he said, reflecting on the unexpected challenges of home ownership. Thankfully, a leather couch and chair he’d placed inside the shed emerged unscathed, as did his home, which narrowly escaped disaster, missing the fallen tree by about 20 feet.

Looking Forward

As Port Royal continues to clean up from Helene’s winds and rain, the community is banding together, reminding one another of resilience not just in spirit but in camaraderie. Mark and his family are managing to find some humor amid the chaos, emphasizing that even when storms hit hard, life has a way of surprising us with its sweetness.