Myrtle Beach area communities hit with major flooding, Horry County Council declares local state of emergency (2024)

The current was flowing briskly along BelleGrove Drive.

Water splashed around the ankles of homeowners as they stood in the street, staring with incredulity at the flash flood that drowned half a neighborhood under water after relentless rainfall Sunday.

“Look at the road,” said Steven Resseguie, a resident of the Carolina Forest community. “It’s just like a river.”

“My husband and I moved here during Hurricane Hugo and it wasn’t nearly as bad as this,” his wife, Shelley Resseguie said.

With backpacks strapped to their backs and holding hands, the Carolina Forest couple sloshed their way down a flooded BelleGrove Drive to their home on Coffee Tree Court, one of the hardest hit areas of Belle Grove.

The Resseguies estimated four feet of water entered their home. The entire cul de sac was submerged Sunday, with most of the homes suffering from flood damage.

Flooding was so severe within the subdivision that Horry County Fire-Rescue deployed jet skis to rescue stranded homeowners. An estimate of the number of rescues made was not yet available.

Nearly a foot of rain has fallen since Friday from a combination of outflow from Hurricane Joaquin and a passing low pressure system.

State and local leaders have been using terms such as “life-threatening” and “historic” to describe the deluge. Another six inches was forecast Sunday night.

Horry County has opened three shelters for residents. They are as follows:

• Risen Christ Lutheran Church, 10595 North Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach, just south of Barefoot Landing.

• Beach Church, 557 George Bishop Parkway – Please use Harrelson Blvd. to access the church. If you are planning to stay in this shelter, please drive to the back of the church and look for the adventure building and enter at the back door.

• Conway Recreation Center, located on Mill Pond Road between U.S. 378 and U.S. 501.

According to the S.C. Department of Transportation, 70 miles of I-95 between exits at I-20 and I-26 have been closed.

The action was taken on Sunday, October 4. The decision to close this portion of I-95 was made due to a number of flooded sections of the interstate that required several detours, according to a news release.

The alternate route is I-20 Florence to I-77 around Columbia, then onto I-26 east for motorists to return to I-95. Northbound travelers would reverse this route.

Traveler information is available on the SCDOT website; www.scdot.org

Several local roads remained closed as of this posting, including Hinson Drive near Alta Surf Apartments.

Elsewhere in Horry County, road closures spanned from the Little River and North Myrtle Beach areas to Murrells Inlet and Garden City.

Sections of U.S. 501 in Conway and also between Conway and Aynor were shut down as were several roads in the city of Myrtle Beach.

The list of road closures has been ever changing throughout the day, though most of the closures were in the vicinity of Harrelson Boulevard and flood prone areas of Ocean Boulevard.

Greens Boulevard in the area of 21st Avenue North was closed, as was U.S. 501 at Adler court. Barricades were set up to prevent motorists from traveling on them.

In response to the storm, Horry County Council at an emergency meeting called Sunday declared a localized state of emergency to adopt emergency ordinances to meet public emergencies affecting life, health, safety or the property of the people in our area.

The declaration empowers the county administrator to "take the measures necessary to mobilize the necessary life safety mechanisms and responses."

It also declares that all "reasonable actions and precautions be taken as is necessary to ensure the fullest possible protection and preservation of life." property."

The declaration will remain in effect for 60 days unless sooner terminated by resolution by County Council. A copy of the declaration is attached to this story.

The cities of Conway and Myrtle Beach have issued similar declarations, calling them civil states of emergency.

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