Thousands urged to leave as floods spill into S. Carolina
CHARLESTON: Thousands of people in the Georgetown, South Carolina area were urged to leave as rivers inundated by Hurricane Florence rainwater threatened to submerge neighbourhoods under 3m of water.
Georgetown, which sits at the confluence of the Waccamaw, Great Pee Dee and Sampit rivers, was largely spared the initial fury of Florence, which came ashore on Sept 14 as a Category 1 hurricane and killed 46 people in three states.
But the port city of more than 9,000 people stands in the path of what the National Weather Service says could be significant flooding as water dumped by the storm system drains to the ocean.
Between 6,000 and 8,000 people have been exhorted to leave, but it was not clear how many had done so as of Tuesday evening, said Randy Akers, deputy public information officer for Georgetown County.
Parts of Georgetown could be submerged in up to 3m of water in the coming days as the Pee Dee and
Waccamaw rivers overrun their banks, the National Weather Service said, adding that the deluge threatened to cut off highways and isolate communities.
“Be very vigilant,” Georgetown County Emergency Management Director Sam Hodge said on Facebook. “When you see the water start to rise ... it is time to take action.”
In neighbouring Conway County, the Waccamaw, which was already well above flood stage on Tuesday,
could inundate a coal ash pond that holds over 200,000 tonnes of toxic ash, according to Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility.
Santee Cooper said it had removed more than one million tonnes of coal ash, which can contaminate water and harm fish and wildlife, from the site in the past few years.
The Waccamaw is forecast to crest today at around 670cm in Conway and at 646cm in George-
town, a representative with the South Carolina Emergency Management Division said.
The potential flood zone encompasses roughly 3,500 homes in Georgetown, 60km south of Myrtle Beach, and the coastal resort community of Pawleys Island where 8,000 people live, Georgetown County spokesman Jackie Broach-Akers said.
Authorities warned residents in harm’s way with recorded telephone messages and home visits. The county opened two emergency shelters on Monday and hotels in nearby Myrtle Beach offered discounts to evacuees. Public schools were closed until further notice.
Crews worked to erect temporary dams on either side of US Highway 17, the main coastal route through the area, and National Guard engineers were installing a floating bridge at Georgetown in case the highway was washed out at the river.