The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the Sapelo Island community following the collapse of a ferry dock gangway that led to 7 deaths and severe injuries.
The collapse happened while crowds were gathered to celebrate the island’s Gullah-Geechee community.
The event, Cultural Day, is an annual event hosted by the Sapelo Island Cultural And Revitalization Society, as part of the Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Awareness Month.
Sapelo Island is home to a small Gullah-Geechee community, called Hogg Hummock. The community was founded after the Civil War by former slaves from the cotton plantation of Thomas Spalding. As a small, tight-knit community, losses like these are devastating.
IRIS affiliates have partnered with Hogg Hummock for a project that hopes to restore Big Hole marsh.
We are thinking of all affected, and sending thoughts and prayers as the community begins to recover from this tragedy.