Here’s how Forestbrook residents are preparing for possible flooding

On one side of Forestbrook Road, residents are raking leaves and enjoying a sunny day.

On the other side, fire department and National Guard trucks are driving down the streets as neighbors help each other pile sandbags in front of doors.

Forestbrook and other Horry County communities are under a code red evacuation warning. The Facebook page for Horry County E-911 Communications posted the code red warning Sunday afternoon.

On Sea Turtle Drive on the south side of Forestbrook Road, Rosalie Piccirillo said she didn’t know her area was under a flood warning until neighbors brought sandbags to her door.

Piccirillo said she wasn’t going to leave her home. She wanted to stay with her Yorkie Pomeranian mix, Daisy, and nearby shelters don’t allow pets.

Daisy injured her leg three weeks ago, Piccirillo said, so that would’ve made evacuating even harder.

“I can’t go anywhere without Daisy,” she said. “I just can’t. She’s too close to me.”

So she decided to wait out the flood in her home. The neighborhood hasn’t yet begun to flood, but Piccirillo said the waiting was the worst part.

“It’s nerve-wracking,” she said. “When are we going to know?”

Piccirillo is thankful for her neighbors, who made sure she was prepared for flooding and helped pile sandbags in front of her door. She’s been in Myrtle Beach since 2011 after her husband died in 2009.

“I’m thankful to have them next door,” she said. “They’re good people. It makes you feel not alone.”

But many of Piccirillo’s neighbors have already decided to leave the neighborhood.

Marge and Douglas Sidoti were talking to neighbors Monday morning, most of whom have made plans to stay in hotels with their pets.

Marge Sidoti said she would take her pet parrot with her when she left.

She said she hadn’t been given enough information about the flooding, so her husband drove to the nearby fire station Sunday to ask for advice.

Now, firefighters and National Guardsmen were driving through the neighborhood, knocking on doors and telling people about the code red warning.

“It’s awesome,” Marge said about the operation. “It’s a blessing.”

Douglas said water came halfway up their driveway during Hurricane Matthew, but didn’t flood the house.

“Nothing in the house (last time),” he said Monday. “I really don’t want to lose my house.”

In Sugar Mill Plantation, Susan Sally said residents don’t expect to get any flooding.

“We hope not,” she said. “We’re praying.”

Almost no homes in that neighborhood have sandbags in front of doors or garages.

“We’re not prepared (for flooding),” Sally said.

Boarders at Rock Smith Farm off of Forestbrook Road hope the flooding will be minimal.

“Even in Matthew we flooded some, but the horses still had pasture,” Kimberly Smith said.

She said she’s been checking the S.C. DNR website daily for flood warnings, but she isn’t worried for her horse, Levi.

“Horses have been in the wild for hundreds of years,” she said. “They know what to do.”

Smith said Levi was “a wreck” during the hurricane, and obviously nervous, but she doesn’t think the flood will affect him.

“I was more concerned with the hurricane than I am the flood,” she said.

Like Piccirillo, Angel Tarbona said she would stay in her home on Sea Turtle Drive. Her husband relies on an oxygen tank, so she said it would have been difficult to evacuate.

“I don’t have a choice,” she said. “And it’s stressful.”

She said flooding from Matthew didn’t get inside her home last time, but was especially bad because mulch blocked the street drainage system.

“I’ve got a shovel ready,” she said.

If she needs to this time, she said she is ready to unblock the drains herself.

And Piccirillo said she’s ready to defend her home as well.

“It’s a little scary,” she said. “I’m thinking if any water comes in I can mop it up. I don’t know what to do.”

This story was originally published September 24, 2018 at 1:59 PM.