Hurricane Florence Foils AFS 2018 Fall Conference in Charleston, SC

A bit ironic, but attendees at the American Filtration & Separations Society (AFS) Fall Conference, who were in Charleston to dive deep into the transportation industry, found themselves experiencing a more intense transportation schedule than expected – as they had to leave just hours after they had arrived. The mandatory evacuation ordered by South Carolina governor Henry McMaster came on Monday, after Hurricane Florence exhibited a dramatic growth in strength and direction toward the South Carolina coast.

Our Monday short courses went off without a hitch, and attendees at those reported a rich learning experience. Then, early Monday afternoon, Gov. McMaster ordered a full coastal evacuation effective noon on Tuesday. Due to the various methods by which so many conference attendees would need to rearrange their transportation plans to evacuate Charleston, AFS informed attendees to begin evacuating Tuesday morning.

We continued with the event Monday evening with an attendee reception and tour of downtown Charleston (a big thanks to Carolina Filters for sponsoring!), and following that event, attendees began packing for their return trips.

We were quite disappointed to have to cancel the conference due to this unpredictable weather event and hope that everyone returned home safely. We are working with conference presenters to try and reschedule them for FiltCon 2019, which will be held in Philadelphia, PA, April 1-3. Save the date now!