Storm rips roof off Myrtle Beach motel, which housed families displaced by hurricane
The sign outside the Midtown Inn read “No Vacancy” Friday morning despite at least half the rooms being empty in the downtown Myrtle Beach motel.
Those empty rooms turned out to be a blessing Thursday night, when strong rain and wind tore off a large portion of the roof, leaving owner Jaret Hucks, his employees and their friends to remove a large structure hanging off the side of the building.
Hucks, who wasn’t at the motel during the storm, said his phone started blowing up about 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Luckily, no guests were staying on the side of the building where the roof was blown.
Hucks said he has owned the business about six years. Hurricane Matthew previously damaged the roof, but he paid a lot of money to repair it, and he’s hopeful the warranty from those repairs will allow him to quickly replace it.
Tim Carter, a friend who was helping to remove scraps Friday morning, said Hucks isn’t used to needing assistance but is always there when others need it, including housing hundreds of displaced residents during and after Hurricane Florence.
Hucks had set up a Facebook group called Myrtle Beach Midtown Disaster Relief in 2018 to give people an opportunity to support those displaced families. He suggested anyone wanting to help him out now could visit that page.
