Criminal Defense Attorney in Wilmington Island, GA.

The wreck happened on North Cromwell Road near Suffolk Road on Saturday night.

Infinite Scroll Enabled

GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS

The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.

Your Email Address

Privacy Notice

WILMINGTON ISLAND, Ga. —

A Wilmington Island homeowner is raising concern about the safety of her road following a deadly wreck over the weekend.

The crash happened close to midnight on Saturday on North Cromwell Road near Suffolk Road.

"We heard really loud bang. It woke me up," said Kelly Hanrahan, who lives near the crash site.

Hanrahan said her husband went outside to figure out where the noise came from.

"He actually had to stop a lady and ask her to shine her headlights because he couldn't see, it was so dark over here," Hanrahan said.

Her husband finally found a car smashed up against a tree in their neighbor's yard.

"My husband was the first to call 911," she said.

Recommended

Savannah Pride Week kickoffs

Hanrahan said she is heartbroken the driver, who was trapped, did not survive.

"It's super sad that it happened because, you know, for years my neighbors have been asking and trying to get resources to prevent this kind of thing from happening," she said.

Hanrahan said in her 8 years living on North Cromwell Road, she's witnessed more than 10 crashes. That's why she wants the county to take action and install safety measures like lighting, speed humps and signage.

"We have so many kids who play on the street and we love our neighborhood. We take good care of our neighborhood, but this is something that is beyond our control and we need help," she said.

A spokesperson for Chatham County told WJCL 22 News, "The Chatham County Department of Engineering has a Neighborhood Traffic Calming Policy in place. That policy aims to reduce speed, volume of cut-through traffic, make streets safer and improve the quality of life for County residents. Residents can submit an application for the Engineering Department to investigate traffic calming measures."

Hanrahan said she plans to submit that application.

"I think the neighbors were really on board with starting a petition to kind of, you know, get this rolling," she said.

Hanrahan said she just wants to see the county take action before another deadly wreck occurs.

SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) confirmed Wednesday that more specimens of an invasive, bee-eating hornet have been found in coastal Georgia and a second nest has been eradicated.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that a second nest of yellow-legged hornets, which has since been destroyed, was located on September 15 under a bridge on Wilmington Island near Savannah.

“The discovery came just over three weeks after officials tracked down the first hive, which was found high in a tree, also on Wilmington Island,” The AJC’s Drew Kann writes. “That nest was dispatched by a pest control company on August 23.”

Kann adds that so far, “there have been confirmed sightings of the hornets at 12 separate locations in coastal Georgia, all in the areas of Wilmington Island, Whitemarsh Island and Thunderbolt.”

Officials have since confirmed that nine out of those 12 detections were reported to the GDA by citizens and “three were captured in traps set by staff,” Kann reports.

“While our efforts on the ground continue, it is important to note that this is a significant victory and another step forward for our state and for our agricultural industry as we fight the establishment of the hornet in the state of Georgia,” Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said during a press conference Wednesday.

In early August, a beekeeper near Savannah spotted the first yellow-legged hornet discovered in Georgia. The sighting marked the “first-ever confirmed detection of the species in the wild in the U.S.,” Kann writes. Read more here.

Officials and scientists warned that the hornet’s arrival in Georgia could threaten honey production, native pollinators and agriculture.

The GDA is continuing to ask for the public’s help in spotting these hornets.

“Georgians play an important role helping GDA identify unwanted, non-native pests, and I want to thank the beekeeper who reported his sighting to us, as well as our partners at the University of Georgia and USDA’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service for working swiftly to confirm its identity,” Harper said. “Our experienced team of professionals will continue to assess the situation and are working directly with USDA APHIS and UGA to trap, track, and eradicate the yellow-legged Hornet in Georgia. "

Officials said the yellow-legged hornet is a social wasp species that builds egg-shaped paper nests, often in trees. These nests can become huge, with an average of 6,000 insects.

The yellow-legged hornet is native to tropical and subtropical areas of Southeast Asia, according to officials.

The GDA said its team of Pest Program scientists, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and academic experts are developing an ‘operational plan to trap, track, and eradicate the yellow-legged hornet in Georgia.’

Officials said yellow-legged hornets can be dangerous, and advised caution in the event of a sighting.

Georgians with additional questions or concerns are encouraged to email the Georgia Department of Agriculture at yellow.legged.hornet@agr.georgia.gov.

Here is what to include with your report:

• Your name and contact information.

• The location of the sighting.

• Date of sighting.

• If you can, safely take photograph(s) of the hornet (we generally can only confirm a report with a photo or specimen).

• Location and approximate height of the nest if found (Is it in a tree? Approximately how high is the nest?).

• If you have no photo, please include a description of the size of the insect, the color of the head and body, and what it was doing.

• Description of the hive loss/damage (if no photo is available).

• The direction the hornet(s) flew when flying away.

Officials said there are many domestic lookalikes that we have here in the United States who do not pose a threat to honeybees.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution contributed to this story.

ATLANTA — Today, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper announced, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the University of Georgia (UGA), the discovery and destruction of a second yellow-legged hornet’s nest on Wilmington Island near Savannah, GA. The first live detection of a yellow-legged hornet (YLH: Vespa velutina) in the open United States was confirmed in Georgia on August 9, 2023. Shortly after, on August 23, 2023, a yellow-legged hornet’s nest was located and destroyed by Department staff and pest management professionals in a residential neighborhood on Wilmington Island. The yellow-legged hornet is a non-native species that, if allowed to establish in the United States, could threaten honey production, native pollinators, and Georgia’s #1 industry – agriculture.

“Since the initial detection of the yellow-legged hornet in Georgia, the Department’s team of dedicated professionals have been working overtime to find any additional yellow-legged hornets in our state, and thanks to their tireless work, we have eradicated a second yellow-legged hornet’s nest,” said Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper. “While this eradication is a win for our state and our agriculture industry, we’ll continue working around the clock to find any additional hornets, eradicate this invasive pest, and protect our state’s agriculture industry. The public has played a vital role in this effort, and we’re asking Georgians to continue reporting any suspected sightings directly to the Department.”

The second nest was discovered by Department staff under a bridge on Wilmington Island, GA, on September 15, 2023, and it was eradicated that evening by the same crew of pest management professionals who assisted with the eradication of the first nest. This nest was located using a variety of techniques, including capturing, marking, and releasing hornets to estimate the distance from the trapping location to the nest. Additionally, hornets were captured, taken to different locations, and released so their flight direction could be observed. As this process was repeated, the size of the search area was gradually reduced until the nest was located.

After eradication, the nest was examined by Dr. Lewis Bartlett from the University of Georgia and Dr. Jamie Ellis from the University of Florida. They identified developing hornets within the nest and confirmed there was no evidence of the production of reproductive males or queens within the colony at the time of destruction. Additionally, scientists from UGA have sequenced the genetics of hornets from the first nest and evidence suggests these hornets originated in Asia. DNA samples were taken from the second nest, and genetic analysis of these samples is ongoing.

“The University of Georgia remains committed, alongside our colleagues at the Georgia Department of Agriculture, to the task of eradicating the yellow legged hornet from Georgia and the rest of the country,” said University of Georgia Professor of Entomology and Honey Bee Program Director Dr. Keith Delaplane. “While it does not pose a serious risk to humans, pets and livestock, this hornet has proven itself a deadly predator of honey bees and other pollinators in Europe and Asia. An ideal scenario would be the discovery and eradication of every established nest before the colonies have time to issue new queens who overwinter and start the life cycle over again next spring.”

The Department has two teams of four deployed in the Savannah area that are actively trapping and surveying for additional nests, and these teams have placed 134 traps in the area around the initial detection. So far, confirmed detections of the yellow-legged hornet have been made in twelve separate locations around Wilmington Island, Whitemarsh Island, and Thunderbolt, GA. Nine of these detections were reported to the Department by citizens and three were captured in traps set by Department staff. The Department continues to explore options to more efficiently and effectively trap and track the yellow-legged hornet and recently received electronic monitoring equipment from the Washington Department of Agriculture, which will be put into use in the coming days.

The Department’s team of dedicated professionals continues to work with our partners at UGA and USDA to eradicate any additional hornets in our state, educate the public on the yellow-legged hornet, and conduct outreach to key stakeholder groups such as beekeepers and pest management professionals. Since the initial detection, USDA has provided the Department with additional operating funds to continue our efforts, and the yellow-legged hornet partnership has expanded to include Clemson University and the University of Florida.

As we continue our efforts to eradicated the yellow-legged hornet from our state, we are again asking the public to report any suspected sightings to the Department via this readily accessible form. Beekeepers have been key in reporting yellow-legged hornets, and we encourage them to continue monitoring their hives and contact us with any suspicious activity. Georgians with additional questions or concerns are encouraged to email us at yellow.legged.hornet@agr.georgia.gov.

–Georgia Department of Agriculture

(TYBEE ISLAND, Ga (WSAV) — On Tybee Island, a 3-year-old loggerhead sea turtle, Ike, was released back into his natural habitat Saturday morning. People we spoke with didn’t mind getting up at the crack of dawn to cheer on Ike’s new beginning. Some say they woke up as early as 6 a.m.

Asya Loring and Loghan Wampler of Savannah told News 3 it was worth it. “It’s a cool experience it’s something that you are able to see often”, Loring said. Because not a lot of sea turtles are seen on the beach. You only see them far out in the ocean or in Hawaii. If you want to be up close and a part of it, it’s something cool to try.” “I agree for sure,” Wampler responded. Plus, just any chance to be on the beach in the morning. Almost like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing to see.” As News 3 continued speaking with people who attended, they tell us this was like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Sage Mathews of Wilmington Island agreed. “It’s our first release and it’s probably… it could be a once and a lifetime opportunity,” Mathews said. “So, we are really happy to make it out.” Ike has been a resident at the Tybee’s Marine Science Center since 2020. He was a straggler on Tybee Island beach. His job as Marine Debris Ambassador was to bring awareness to water pollution through engagement.

Even though he is dealing with a flipper injury, that did not stop him from taking confident strides towards his new home. As the new loggerhead steps in as ambassador, Mathews said she hopes to experience this again. “In a couple of years, we hope to have our baby brother and head on out and experience it again,” Mathews concluded. As Ike steps down, the upcoming Marine Debris Ambassador is named Westie.

CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Some areas in Chatham County still don’t have power after Idalia knocked down trees and power lines.

Georgia Power said power in Savannah should be 95 percent restored by 8 p.m. Friday.

On Rio Road, there is a tree hanging on a power line. Crews have been out here for hours trying to get power back for folks that have been out of power for 24 hours now.

On Wilmington Island Thursday morning, crews were out there trying to get power back up. There were also a few trees down including one on a house.

As far as the Southside, there are several different power companies including Alabama Power staged at the Savannah Mall.

Michelle Gilmore has been living in Queens Retreat for six years. Her daughter tells me she hasn’t been able to do any of her schoolwork, as Savannah Chatham schools went virtual for the rest of the week.

Michelle says she worried about her and her some of her neighbors with no air and electricity.

“For me the most important concerning thing is that, especially in this neighborhood they have people that, like me, have medication that needs to be refrigerated. I’m sure there are other people in the neighborhood who’s more dependent on the power than I am. Usually, it would be restored within a couple of hours or so but every since I’ve been here, this is the longest it’s ever taken.”

Gilmore’s power has since been restored.

Georgia Power representative Amanda Arnold says it’s taking a while to get power back up not only because crews have to access the outages before repair, but also because they focus areas across Georgia with the most damage first.

“Before people can get their power restored. Our crews have to do damage assessments. Before they do that, the storm has to have completely passed. Debris and trees and all that stuff has to be cleared out of the way by our partners. Then, our crews go in and do damage assessment tests and they communicate what equipment they need. What may be broken, power line down and what they need to restore the power,” said Arnold.

She says they are doing what they can to restore power in all areas. She mentioned that just because you don’t see a truck near, it doesn’t mean they aren’t working on it.

And if your power still isn’t on, they encourage you to unplug all your major appliances, so your circuit doesn’t blow when power comes back.

Copyright 2023 WTOC. All rights reserved.