She tried to warn neighbors about flooding in their SC homes. The police told her to stop
In the spring of 2020, Lyda “Liz” Greene bought a new home in Longs, just off of Highway 9, hoping to retire.
She had lived in the Garden City area before moving, and was familiar with stormwater and drainage in the area. She advised neighbors and others so frequently on such issues that she adopted the nickname “the drainage lady,” a label she still claims proudly.
But Greene wasn’t as familiar with the Longs area of Horry County, and said she had to rely on information from the realtor and builders when she was purchasing the home she would retire in. A delay with her home loan caused her to lose out on the home she wanted to buy, and the realtors eventually sold her one down the street.
Greene was nervous about flooding, but the builder and realtor assured her the property wouldn’t.
“I did ask the builders, a developer, the realtor, bone dry. Never any water. Not a water issue,” she said they told her.
That may not have been entirely true.
While Greene’s home has not flooded, Horry County records — as well as photos and videos — show that her neighborhood, and the lot where her house now stands flooded badly during Hurricane Florence in 2018. Stormwater overflowing from the Waccamaw River flooded Highway 9 and the entrance to Greene’s neighborhood, photos and aerial video footage of the flood show. County maps show the area took on 24 feet of water during the flood.
Once she learned that information, Green became worried. Her yard floods when it rains, and she fears the worst if a larger storm or hurricane were to come.
“When it drizzles, all of this is underwater. And then the streets spill off and then it starts coming in my garage,” she said.
But as Greene has sought to raise the issue of flooding to her neighbors, as well as the builders and realtors who sold the home to her, she’s received harsh pushback. Horry County police have been called to tell her to stop bothering her neighbors about flooding. A realtor working in the area said she’s lost sales because of Greene’s protests.
In South Carolina’s fastest growing county — and one of its flattest — Greene’s situation highlights some of the tensions facing a region that adds thousands of new residents and new homes each year. U.S. Census data showed last month that nearly 82,000 new residents moved to Horry County over the past decade, with most of that growth occurring in the unincorporated areas of the county. As developers move housing development after housing development through the county Planning Commission and county council, residents often complain of flooding, or density, and the erasure of a rural setting they sought to live in.
For Greene, the tensions between a real estate industry looking to build homes rapidly and residents who demand more from builders and county planners, have come to her doorstep.
Several weeks ago, an Horry County Police officer visited her home after neighbors complained about her protests. Greene recorded the interaction, and shared a copy of the recording with The Sun News. In the recording, the officer can be heard telling Greene that she’s paranoid and that she shouldn’t be leaving her property to discuss flooding issues with her neighbors. The officer also denied her assertion that parts of the neighborhood flood.
“If you have a problem with (the builder) you need to leave everybody else alone and deal with (them), don’t go over there and start causing a scene showing pictures of flooding,” the officer said. “This area does not flood. It rains but it doesn’t flood. There’s nothing over here that I’ve seen that’s flooded, even during the hurricane.”
The officer also implied that neighbors were right to call the police on her, because she’s been bothering them.
“I’m going to be honest with you, ma’am If I lived next door to you, and the way that you’re acting, I would 100% stand on my property line and watch what you were doing,” he said. “And I’m going to be honest with you, as a normal, everyday citizen I’d be concerned because of the way you’re being paranoid about this and the way you’re acting.”
Kelly Moore, a spokesperson for Horry County, did not provide the officer’s name when asked. Moore also defended the officer’s conduct in a statement.
“In the interactions you cite below, County staff followed the proper protocols and procedures,” Moore said regarding specific statements the officer made on the audio recording.
A realtor working with the developer H&H Homes, Cynthia Sartin, also confronted Greene about her protests in another interaction Greene recorded audio of. In that interaction, Sartin said she hasn’t seen the area flood, and said she doesn’t believe the area to be in a flood zone, though county records show that part of it is. Greene said she disagreed with Sartin.
“I know you always tell people that but it’s not true. You’ve made me lose two sales because you ran people off because you’ve been talking to them and telling them that we’re in a flood zone,” Sartin told Greene, according to the recording. “I’ve lost two sales because of you. That’s taking food away from my family.”
When reached by a reporter, Sartin declined to comment on the interaction because Greene had threatened to sue H&H Homes.
“You know what, I can’t talk to you, because she apparently hired an attorney,” Sartin said. “It’s all stuff that she’s started.”
Reese Boyd III, the attorney Greene said she had contacted, did not return a message seeking comment for this story.
A representative for H&H homes could not be reached for comment.
Over the course of Greene’s protests, Horry County stormwater staff have visited Greene’s property several times, and have recommended she try to work with H&H Homes to improve drainage on her property. Before her home was built, the base of the home was raised to one foot above the county’s base flood levels, though the county has since increased that building standard to three feet. That could mean that Greene’s home has a lower risk of flooding during a major storm, but may not be protected from a storm the size of Hurricane Florence.
April O’Leary, the head of the anti-flooding and pro-responsible building group Horry County Rising, said she’s worked with Greene on some of her concerns, and said she believes the lot should be “re-graded and stabilized to reduce flood risk.” O’Leary also commended county stormwater staff for working with Greene to address her concerns.
“After talking with her, it’s very clear she’s very anxious about living in that house. In an ideal world I wish the developer would just buy her out,” O’Leary said. “It’s just been such a nightmare for (her).”
Moore said county stormwater staff had done all they could do to address Greene’s concerns.
“The Horry County Stormwater department did assess the situation and addressed her concerns appropriately,” Moore said in a statement. “There is nothing further the Stormwater department can do to address the concerns.”
Horry County was largely spared last year, and hasn’t seen major-hurricane-level flooding yet this year either. But in the meantime, Greene said she’s stuck, worrying and waiting for a big storm to hit. She said developers in the county should do more to avoid building in flood-prone areas, or to better inform people buying their homes if they do. Greene said she’d like to find another place to live, but can’t afford to.
“I’m facing surgery, how do I walk away? Who pays the mortgage? How do I get another mortgage? How do I go to the expense of running up and down the highway finding another place?” she said. “I think that’s unreasonable to be honest with you. I don’t think that’s my job to do that.”
She also said she didn’t appreciate being told she wasn’t telling the truth about flooding in the area.
“When I keep getting, ‘It doesn’t exist, it doesn’t happen, it’s a figment of your imagination,’ I go, ‘Okay, is this a figment? All the videos (from) TV-13, Sun News pictures, are they figments of your imagination?’” she said.
“...Just tell (home buyers) you have water issues and then let them decide what they want to do.”
This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 12:15 PM.
