Flooding spreading out in S. Carolina
Forecast lowers vertical height by several feet
BUCKSPORT, S.C. — The last community in the way of Hurricane Florence’s floodwaters as they slowly flow to the sea got some good news Wednesday — the predictions aren’t as dire as they once were.
And it appears the Waccamaw River won’t top a lake of coal ash or the main highway to Myrtle Beach.
Officials originally expected flooding in the worst areas of Georgetown County to be from 5 to 10 feet. But the latest forecast lowered that estimate to 2 to 4 feet, according to the county’s Facebook page.
“The water is spreading,” Georgetown County Administrator Sel Hemingway said Wednesday. “We are not seeing the vertical rise.”
Twelve days after the once-fierce hurricane arrived on the coast, and more than a week after it blew north and dissipated, rivers swollen by its relentless rains are still flooding homes and businesses in their paths as they make their way to the sea. And even the new flooding forecasts are still well above records set just two years ago by Hurricane Matthew.
The death toll from the storm is still adding up. North Carolina officials blamed the death of a 67-yearold man who fractured his neck cleaning up storm debris Sept. 18 in Craven County on the storm. Florence has killed at least 47 people — 36 in North Carolina; nine in South Carolina; and two in Virginia.
In many places in the Carolinas, the damage is already done. North Carolina agriculture officials estimate $1.1 billion in losses from Florence, most of it done to crops in the field. That was nearly three times the damage reported by farmers from Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said the losses this year were greater because harvests were underway or just getting started.
Preliminary estimates show about 2,000 homes have been damaged by flooding in South Carolina, with half of them suffering major damage or being destroyed, said state Emergency Management Division Director Kim Stenson, adding those numbers are far from final with flooding still occurring that could affect hundreds or thousands of additional homes.