Scary Ride on Hwy. 80 - Girl Ends Up in Marsh

High spring tides have been a point of concern for Weather, CEMA and police officials all week, as the water has been coming up onto some roadways. 

Highway 80 to Tybee Island, or Tybee Road, flooded on both Monday and Tuesday.  Officials closed the road for several hours on Tuesday evening.  Many motorists were stranded on either Tybee or Wilmington, but they were warned by police, media and road signage. 

On Monday evening, several drivers experienced something very scary.  A driver who pulled over to help a young driver spoke to me today about what happened. 

“There were two cars in front of me, there was a Chevy Silverado and I believe it was a Honda Civic.  They were about 50 yards in front of me.  The Honda civic ended up doing a 360 and spun out off the road into the water,” explains Michael Bandy of Tybee Island, who witnessed a car loose control.

Michael Bandy was on his way home to Tybee Island Monday around 11 p.m. when he witnessed a car go off the road into the marsh and helped an 18-year old girl on what was quite a scary night.

Bandy says the marsh grass was thick, much thicker than it is now.  It was about a foot deep but on the road.  That’s when the car hit it, skidded off and into the marsh.}

“She ended up, basically was trapped in her car and ended up having to use her legs to push the door open, ended up getting out and it was about chest deep water,” explains Bandy.

Bandy and a recent Benedictine graduate pulled over to help.

“We hung out on the side of the road for a minute, we called 9-11, realized that it was a pretty bad situation as far as just standing on the side of the road because nobody was stopping.  There was actually another car that witnessed the whole thing and kept on driving.  Myself and the other guy who stopped, we were commenting on a. how nobody stopped and that the other guy who witnessed the whole thing, the car skip out onto the river didn’t even stop, like it was an inconvenience to him,” explains Bandy.

The three waited at Fort Pulaski for police.  The experience leaves Bandy with some words of wisdom for others.

“Everybody needs to slow down and look out for everybody else,” adds Bandy.