Georgia islanders rushed to rescue survivors after dock walkway collapse that killed 7
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Orange life jackets floated in the waterwhere bystanders rushed to form a human chain to carry survivors to safety. Others took it upon themselves to wrap dead bodies in blankets and carry them to shore.
The hectic scene after one aluminum gangway collapsed Saturday on a dock on a barrier island in Georgia capped what was supposed to be a holiday, an annual festival that spotlighted the culture and history of the small Gullah-Geechee community of black slave descendants on Sapelo Island.
The collapse occurred as visitors boarded a ferry back to the mainland. Officials say there were about 40 people standing on the aisle when it gave way. At least twenty people plunged into Atlantic waters, where a strong tidal current threatened to pull them out to sea.
“It was chaotic. It was terrible,” said islander Reginald Hall, who rushed into the water and was handed a young child to pass to others, forming a human chain 55 meters from shore.
Seven people died and three others remained hospitalized Sunday, said Walter Rabon, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
He said an accident reconstruction team working with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was working to determine what caused a “catastrophic failure” at the state-operated dock, which was rebuilt in 2021.
“There would be very, very little maintenance required on an aluminum gangway like that,” Rabon said.
Saturday was one of the busiest days of the year on the largely pristine island of Sapelo, about 60 miles south of Savannah. An estimated 700 people traveled to the island for the Cultural Day Festival, organized by the several dozen residents of Hogg Hummock. The enclave of dirt roads and modest homes was founded after the Civil War by freed slaves from an island plantation.
Hog Hummock belongs to a shrinking cluster of small southern communities descended from enslaved island populations known as Gullahor Geechee in Georgia. Scholars say the residents retain much of their African heritage – including a unique dialect and skills such as casting net fishing and basket weaving – because of their separation from the mainland.
There is no bridge connecting the island to the mainland, and most rely on state ferries for the seven-mile journey.
Ed Grovner works on one of those ferries. When the crew reached the dock on Saturday afternoon, the crew saw life jackets being thrown to the victims in the water, which can be up to eleven meters deep at high tide.
Grover said his crew reached a man and a woman, but they were already dead.
“I couldn’t sleep last night,” Grovner told The Associated Press. “My wife said I was sleeping, I screamed in my sleep and said, ‘I’m going to save you.’ I’m going to save you. I’m going to get you. ”
Hogg Hummock resident Jazz Watts was among the visitors as they sampled island foods such as smoked mullet and gumbo and attended demonstrations on making fishing nets and quilts. That’s when news of the unfolding disaster spread.
Watts said he arrived at the dock to find emergency responders and civilians pulling people from the water and trying to administer CPR and first aid.
“It’s devastating,” Watts said. “When you see people being carried who are wrapped in blankets and have died.”
JR Grovner loaded an injured woman into a pickup truck and drove her to an overgrown field full of holes dug by wild boars that was used for helicopter evacuations.
Sapelo Island residents sued McIntosh County and the state of Georgia in federal court in 2015, arguing they lacked basic services, including resources to handle medical emergencies. In a 2022 settlement, county officials agreed to build a helipad on the island — something Grovner, Hall and Watts all say still hasn’t happened.
Watts said a private health care provider planned to open a clinic in a county-owned building that had long been used as a community center. But the deal fell through when commissioners opted to lease the space for a restaurant.
“It’s clear that local officials are not doing everything they need to do,” Watts said. “Those things would definitely have helped, because every second counts.”
Patrick Zoucks, the district manager, did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment.
The ferry port was rebuilt three years ago after officials from Georgia settled the same 2015 lawsuit by island residents, who complained that state-operated ferries and docks did not meet federal disability accessibility standards.
Grovner said he complained to a ferry captain months ago that the gangway didn’t seem sturdy enough, but nothing happened.
Rabon said he was not aware of any previous complaints.
After the collapse, the U.S. Coast Guard and local sheriffs and fire departments rushed to the island using boats and helicopters.
Rabon said none of the dead were islanders. He identified only one: Charles Houston Jr., a chaplain for the Natural Resources Agency.
Hogg Hummock, also known as Hog Hammock, was placed on the hammock National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
But the community’s population has been shrinking for decades, and some families have sold their land to outsiders for vacation homes. County commissioners approved it last year zoning plan changes that doubled the size of permitted homes in Hogg Hummock. That raised fears among residents that larger homes could lead to tax increases, forcing them to sell land their families have owned for generations.
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Wagster Pettus reported from Jackson, Mississippi.