Severe thunderstorm caused flash flooding, outages in North Myrtle Beach Thursday

Heavy rain brought flash flooding and power outages to North Myrtle Beach Thursday afternoon, making driving difficult, if not impossible, for some motorists.

Pat Dowling, North Myrtle Beach city spokesman, said Friday that the flood waters have receded, but the North Myrtle Beach Public Safety Department still requests that people use temporary phone numbers to reach authorities because phone lines are still down due to lightning strikes on Thursday.

North Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue officials said that about 5 p.m. the storm began dumping heavy rain over Ocean Drive and Cherry Grove, and shortly afterward the department got numerous calls about lightning striking businesses and homes, and about vehicles stranded in flooded roads.

Fire dispatchers also temporarily lost radio and phone communications Thursday, and crews worked to get things back up quickly.

NMBFR authorities also said they were able to handle every call with minimal delays despite the outages, and said they were assisted by Horry County Fire Rescue workers on some emergency calls.

North Myrtle Beach officials said no major damages or injuries were reported in connection with the storm.

Michael Ross, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C., said the North Myrtle Beach area saw around 3 inches of rain in roughly two hours’ time.

“Yesterday was kind of unusual with the colliding wind boundaries,” Ross said.

Ross said wind boundaries from the ocean breeze collided with the incoming thunderstorm, making it more concentrated and leading to the heavy rainfall that caused flooding.

He also said the Grand Strand is likely to see some afternoon showers Friday, but doesn’t expect the heavy rainfall that crippled parts of Horry County Thursday.

Ross said the Myrtle Beach area got about 1 inch to 2 inches of rain in some areas from Thursday’s storm, and Myrtle Beach police officials reported that some traffic lights temporarily lost power at several intersections in the city, including Mr. Joe White Avenue and U.S. 17 Bypass, along with 29th Avenue North and Robert Grissom Parkway.

Police were on the scene directing traffic while repair crews worked to get lights back up.

To reach North Myrtle Beach Public safety officials, Dowling requested that residents and visitors call 843-742-8049 and 843-385-6417 for emergency and non-emergency calls.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 9:02 AM with the headline "Severe thunderstorm caused flash flooding, outages in North Myrtle Beach Thursday."