 | |
| Date | 19 October 2024 |
|---|---|
| Time | ~3:50 p.m. (GMT-4) |
| Location | Sapelo Island, Georgia, United States |
| Type | Dock collapse causing drowning |
| Cause | Overcrowding |
| Deaths | 7 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 8 |
On 19 October 2024, a ferry dock located at Sapelo Island in the U.S. state of Georgia collapsed, resulting in the deaths of seven people.
On 19 October 2024, a ferry dock gangway located at Sapelo Island along the coast of Georgia, collapsed into the water, causing crowds of 20 people on the dock to fall into the water. The crowds of at least 40 people had come together to celebrate 2024 Cultural Day, commemorating Sapelo Island's Gullah-Geechee community made up of descendants of Black slaves. [1] [2] [3] [4]
At least seven people were killed in the collapse, with eight more reported injured, including two critically, and several others reported missing. [5]
Personnel from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the United States Coast Guard, and the McIntosh County Fire Department began search operations to find survivors who were still in the water. Several recovered victims were taken to regional hospitals. [3]
The victims were identified as:
| # | Name (s) and Surname (s) | Age (s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isaiah Thomas | 79 |
| 2 | Carlotta Mcintosh | 93 |
| 3 | Jacqueline Crews Carter | 75 |
| 4 | Cynthia Alynn Gibbs | 74 |
| 5 | Queen Welch | 76 |
| 6 | William Lee Johnson Jr. | 73 |
| 7 | Charles League Houston | 77 |
All victims were elderly people, with the youngest victim being 73. [6]
After the collapse, signs were put up at the entrance of the gangway limiting the amount of people at one time to eight. [7]
President of the United States Joe Biden and First Lady of the United States Jill Biden were "heartbroken" and said in a statement “What should have been a joyous celebration of Gullah-Geechee culture and history instead turned into tragedy and devastation. Jill and I mourn those who lost their lives, and we pray for the injured and anyone still missing," [8]
Georgia governor Brian Kemp and his wife Marty Kemp said they were also "heartbroken" saying in a twitter post "Marty, the girls, and I are heartbroken by today’s tragedy on Sapelo Island. As state and local first responders continue to work this active scene, we ask that all Georgians join us in praying for those lost, for those still in harm’s way, and for their families,"
Gullah is a creole language spoken by the Gullah people, an African American population living in coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia as well as extreme northeastern Florida and the extreme southeast of North Carolina.
Pin Point is an unincorporated community in Chatham County, Georgia, United States; it is located 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Savannah and is part of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area. Pin Point is 1 mi (1.6 km) wide and 1.6 mi (2.6 km) long, and lies 13 feet above sea level. The town is best known for its longstanding Gullah-speaking community, and being the birthplace of U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas.
The Gullah are a subgroup of the African American ethnic group, who predominantly live in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida within the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. Their language and culture have preserved a significant influence of Africanisms as a result of their historical geographic isolation and the community's relation to their shared history and identity.
The Sea Islands are a chain of over a hundred tidal and barrier islands on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Southeastern United States, between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns rivers along South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The largest is Johns Island, South Carolina. Sapelo Island is home to the Gullah people. All of the islands are acutely threatened by sea level rise due to climate change.
Daufuskie Island, located between Hilton Head Island and Savannah, is the southernmost inhabited sea island in South Carolina. It is 5 miles (8 km) long by almost 2.5 miles (4.0 km) wide – approximate surface area of 8 square miles (21 km2). With over 3 miles (5 km) of beachfront, Daufuskie is surrounded by the waters of Calibogue Sound, the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. It was listed as a census-designated place in the 2020 census with a population of 557.
The Lowcountry is a geographic and cultural region along South Carolina's coast, including the Sea Islands. The region includes significant salt marshes and other coastal waterways, making it an important source of biodiversity in South Carolina.
Sapelo Island is a state-protected barrier island located in McIntosh County, Georgia. The island is accessible only by boat; the primary ferry comes from the Sapelo Island Visitors Center in McIntosh County, Georgia, a seven-mile (11 km), twenty-minute trip. It is the site of Hog Hammock, the last known Gullah community. Access to the island is restricted to residents, landowners, or guests thereof. Public access must be obtained by getting a permit issued by state tourism authorities.
The Golden Isles of Georgia consist of barrier islands, and the mainland port cities of Brunswick and Darien on the 100-mile-long coast of the U.S. state of Georgia on the Atlantic Ocean. They include St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Jekyll Island, Little St. Simons Island, Sapelo Island, and Blackbeard Island. The islands are part of a long chain of barrier islands known as the "Sea Islands", located along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida.
Atlantic Creole is a cultural identifier of those with origins in the transatlantic settlement of the Americas via Europe and Africa.
Coastal Georgia is a ten-county region in the U.S. state of Georgia, bordering South Carolina and Florida. It comprises a substantial portion of the state's Lower Coastal Plain. The region's largest city and metropolitan area is Savannah. Coastal Georgia's total population was 731,630 according to the 2020 United States census. Largest cities in the region: Savannah, Hinesville, Statesboro, Pooler, St Marys, Kingsland, Richmond Hill, Wilmington Island, St Simons Island, Brunswick, Georgetown, Rincon, Port Wentworth, Garden City, Fort Stewart, Country Club Estates, Skidaway Island, Dock Junction, Whitemarsh Island.
Sierra Leonean Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of full or partial Sierra Leonean ancestry. This includes Sierra Leone Creoles whose ancestors were African American Black Loyalists freed after fighting on the side of the British during the American Revolutionary War. Some African Americans trace their roots to indigenous enslaved Sierra Leoneans exported to the United States between the 18th and early 19th century. In particular, the Gullah people of partial Sierra Leonean ancestry, fled their owners and settled in parts of South Carolina, Georgia, and the Sea Islands, where they still retain their cultural heritage. The first wave of Sierra Leoneans to the United States, after the slavery period, was after the Sierra Leone Civil War in the 1990s and early 2000s. According to the American Community Survey, there are 34,161 Sierra Leonean immigrants living in the United States.
The Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is a federal National Heritage Area in the United States. The intent of the designation is to help preserve and interpret the traditional cultural practices, sites, and resources associated with Gullah-Geechee people. Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, and the federal Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission established to oversee it, were designated by an act of Congress on October 12, 2006 through the National Heritage Areas Act of 2006.
Igbo Landing is a historic site at Dunbar Creek on St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia. It was the setting of a mass suicide in 1803 by captive Igbo people who had taken control of the slave ship they were on, and refused to submit to slavery in the United States. The event's moral value as a story of resistance towards slavery has symbolic importance in African American folklore as the flying Africans legend, and in literary history.
A homegoing service is an African-American and Black-Canadian Christian funeral tradition marking the going home of the deceased to the Lord or to Heaven.
Hog Hammock is an African-American community on Sapelo Island, a barrier island of the U.S. state of Georgia. The osland is near the port of Darien, Georgia about 45 miles (72 km) south of Savannah.
Cornelia Walker Bailey was a storyteller, writer, and historian who worked to preserve the Geechee-Gullah culture of Sapelo Island, Georgia.
Katie Hall Underwood (1884-1977) was a Sapelo midwife who was responsible for bringing generations of Gullah-Geechee people into the world. She was a daughter of freed slaves and was extremely dedicated to her work.
The Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, in both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. They developed a creole language, also called Gullah, and a culture with some African influence.
Emily Meggett was an American Geechee-Gullah community leader, chef, and author who co-wrote Gullah Geechee Home Cooking: Recipes from the Matriarch of Edisto Island in 2022. She lived on Edisto Island, near Charleston, South Carolina.
The following is a list of events of the year 2024 in Georgia.