Yankees’ Brett Gardner gets family out of Hurricane Florence danger

by Felix Pantaleón

Yankees left fielder takes family out of harm’s way with Hurricane Florence fast approaching his hometown of Holly Hill, S.C., on Wednesday.

MINNEAPOLIS — Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner wasn’t going to let his family stay in harm’s way.

So when school was canceled in his hometown of Holly Hill, S.C., on Wednesday, the 35-year-old immediately had his wife and two sons fly to New York — and out of the way of Hurricane Florence.

“Nothing you can do about it,” Gardner said, regarding the potential damage that could be done to his sprawling farm and home located in the northwest portion of Saint James Goose Creek Township in Berkeley County.

Or right in the middle of South Carolina.

Late Wednesday, it was unclear how the storm might affect the area.

The National Weather Service said Florence was bigger than North Carolina and South Carolina combined.

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From the Post and Courier:

Amid predictions of disastrous damage and widespread flooding to come, Hurricane Florence is expected to stall off the coast of North Carolina into Friday — near the states’ border — but still throwing out a wide circle of powerful winds and pummeling rain.

But there was some good news late Wednesday night. Florence continued to weaken but was still considered a dangerous Category 2 storm with winds at 110 mph, down from 140 mph, as it approached the coast a few hundred miles off Myrtle Beach.

More than 10 million people were under hurricane warnings or watches in the Carolinas and Virginia, while Georgia declared a state of emergency as well.

The storm, the first major hurricane of the 2018 season, is expected to drift south to make landfall below Myrtle Beach by Saturday, maybe still as a hurricane, before rapidly weakening as it moves across the state.

Forecasters stressed the danger associated with Florence, comparing it to Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.