Huntington Beach State Park reopens nearly one week after Ian hit

MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (WMBF) – Huntington Beach State Park opened up its gates to visitors on Thursday, nearly a week after Hurricane Ian caused extensive damage to the state park.

“It’s a beautiful morning, and we’re happy to say that Huntington Beach State Park has reopened as of this morning,” the South Carolina State Parks announced on its social media.

The South Carolina State Parks said flooding was a major issue when the Category 1 hurricane wreaked havoc on the coast. Huntington Beach State Park said the watermark shows there was almost four feet of water in some of the restrooms on the site.

The parking lot on the south side of the park was also completely flooded by the storm surge.

“The water moved sand, destroyed boardwalks, damaged sand dunes, opened a breech to Sandlapper pond and flooded one house on the park,” the South Carolina State Parks posted on its social media.

Now that Huntington Beach State Park is officially back open, all 47 South Carolina state parks are open.

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