‘Why can’t we stay home?’ Residents evacuate riverside neighborhoods as water rises
Joseph Long waded through water past his hips pushing his wife and dog along on a raft. They were halfway across their front yard.
The pair wore knee-high rain boots and makeshift waders made from garbage bags over their clothes.
Long, his wife Atasica and their son Maddox left their home on Lees Landing Circle to escape the waters streaming in from the Waccamaw River which is experiencing major flooding. The river is projected to reach over 14 feet in the next several days, the result of weeks of rain.
Water levels are expected to affect several residential properties and roads at Riverfront South, Lees Landing, Savannah Bluff, Pitch Landing, Jackson Bluff and Bucksville, according to the National Weather Service.
After making it across the yard, Atasica riding on an air mattress with the family dog and Joseph pushing, the Longs piled into their truck which sat in about 6 inches of water on the road. Maddox sat in the back, dreading the trip.
“Why can’t we stay home?” the 12-year-old asked his mother. Atasica hopes it will be the last time she’ll have to answer the question. The house is up for sale and was supposed to have a buyer come to look at the property Sunday.
“I don’t think that will happen now,” Atasica said, “unless they have a boat.”
Barely visible from where Maddox was sitting was another car almost completely under water. Two feet of water had already flooded the Longs’ garage.
The family hasn’t lived on Lee’s Landing Circle long and they didn’t experience the record-setting flooding of Hurricane Florence in 2018, but they are already tired of dealing with the flood-prone neighborhood.
“It’s a major inconvenience,” Joseph said as he carefully navigated his truck through the flooded neighborhood. The family is staying with friends, a hotel would have cost them a whole paycheck and there’s no telling when their home will be accessible again.
Neighbors remember Hurricane Florence
Gina Pelliccio does remember Hurricane Florence, and she can still point to the high water mark on her garage, as can many who lived through the flooding. Pelliccio evacuated her River Road home for Florence but is staying in Conway this week.
The water in her driveway covered half of her waist-high waders. Her backyard boat dock was almost completely under water.
Pelliccio says it hasn’t been so bad since Florence. By noon on Saturday, the river was feet away from her garage on the first floor.
Her partner, Mike Hanlin, worked to empty tools and boxes from the garage into a friend’s trailer. The garage was the only dry land for hundreds of yards.
They are staying, riding out the incoming water levels, which experts say is at least another foot. But others are leaving.
Robert Solomon lives down the road and says outside of his house the water was up to his waist.
He is leaving the area for the week to stay with his mother because of the waist-high water. Solomon will return home after the water recedes, but he says some neighbors won’t want to come back to deal with the constant flooding.
“People are sick of the flooding,” he said.
This story was originally published February 20, 2021 at 6:13 PM.
