Myrtle Beach area piers recently reopened from past storms. Any concerns about TS Debby?

Myrtle Beach area fishing piers have a long history of sustaining damage during major storms, but owners are hopeful recent renovations will keep the structures upright through Tropical Storm Debby.

The storm could bring 12-16 inches of rainfall to Horry County, with the bulk of the rain coming Wednesday, according to the latest National Weather Service projections. The potential for damaging storm surge, which is typically the cause of any pier destruction, is minor, the NWS reports.

The area’s piers most recently took a hit two years ago, when Hurricane Ian impacted at least four piers along the coast of Horry and Georgetown counties. Perhaps most significantly, storm surge from Ian split Cherry Grove Pier, North Myrtle Beach’s only public pier, in half.

Cherry Grove Pier just finished repairs and fully reopened in July, and manager Edgar Stephens told The Sun News Monday that it’s been great to see the structure return to full use. The pier was rebuilt higher than before to lessen the chance of storm surge causing major damage in the future, and Stephens said the bulk of their prep work ahead of Debby will just involve tying down items on the pier.

Surfside Beach Pier also reopened earlier this year. The town-owned structure underwent a lengthy, expensive rebuilding process after it was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

The pier was rebuilt using concrete — similar to Springmaid Pier, which was also destroyed during Hurricane Matthew — and Surfside Beach Mayor Rob Krouse told The Sun New Monday that he had no concerns about Tropical Storm Debby impacting the pier.

Bryan DeVereux, owner of Pier 14 in Myrtle Beach, told The Sun News he was considering closing the pier for a day due to Debby, but they had no plans of conducting any intensive preparation work ahead of the storm.

This story was originally published August 6, 2024 at 5:00 AM.

David Weissman

The Sun News

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Investigative projects reporter David Weissman joined The Sun News in 2018 after three years working at The York Dispatch in Pennsylvania, and he’s earned South Carolina Press Association and Keystone Media awards for his investigative reports on topics including health, business, politics and education. He graduated from University of Richmond in 2014.