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On June 10 at approximately 11:00 pm in the dark of night, a powerful storm blew through Brookgreen Gardens causing a wide swath of destruction. This fierce microburst produced straight-line winds in excess of 80 miles per hour, snapping mature trees in half and tearing limbs from many others. The damage from this terrible storm can be seen all along its path, from the river, across the Garden, all the way to our front entrance. While our Live Oak Allee was thankfully spared, countless other trees were damaged or destroyed.
All told, over 50 trees were completely destroyed, and nearly 200 more were significantly damaged. Those numbers are just the ones we know about. Many more trees were damaged in our natural areas that we haven’t gotten to or seen yet.
In the first two days after the storm, we spent more than 300 labor hours on cleanup alone, with staff members from all departments pitching in by donning gloves, rakes, and clippers to help with the massive cleanup effort. We have also contracted Georgetown Tree Services for three full days to cut down hazard trees that are too big for our staff and equipment. After all this, we still have many more hours of cleanup to go.
It is difficult to express in words how devastating this loss has been and how overwhelming it can feel at times in the middle of the herculean clean-up effort.
Your generous gift will help Brookgreen heal after this traumatic and unexpected event.
