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Recruits to ride out Hanna at Parris Island

Recruits will ride out Tropical Storm Hanna at low-lying Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., Marine officials decided Thursday.

After considering the storm’s likely area of landfall, strength and expected storm surge, an evacuation was deemed unnecessary, said Master Sgt. Mark Oliva, a depot spokesman, on Thursday.

Officials had been considering evacuating up to 8,500 recruits and permanent staff to Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga., about 200 miles from the depot.

Hanna, roaring through the Bahamas on Thursday with 70 mph winds, was expected to regain hurricane strength by the time it makes landfall late Friday or Saturday.

Other Marine bases, including Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C., and Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River in North Carolina, warned Marines of the oncoming storm and canceled events, including a fishing tournament and retiree appreciation party at Camp Lejeune.

Oliva said Marine officials were already tracking Hurricane Ike, a Category 4 monster with 140 mph winds in the Atlantic Ocean that could hit the Southeast next week.

“The thing that we need to be looking for is the storm surge,” Oliva said. “It’s a very real possibility that this island could go underwater in a good-sized storm.”

Parris Island last evacuated for a hurricane in 1999, Oliva said. About 7,000 recruits stayed at MCLB Albany for five days.