Fields look like lakes, streets look like streams

Vernon Jones and Julie Thompson planned to hold a yard sale Saturday.

Instead, the Little River couple spent the morning trying to dry out their floors and hoping the water would recede from their front yard.

In the 11 years they’ve lived in The Retreat community off Highway 57, the two have seen some downpours. Hurricane Charley even filled the ditch behind their home.

But on Saturday, most of The Retreat’s streets looked like streams. Firefighters even traveled them by boat.

Thompson said the view from her backdoor normally includes a field.

“That looks like a lake,” she said. “And they just cleared that and planted stuff over there.”

Along with the damage to their home, the couple also kept an eye out for unwanted house guests.

“My neighbor across the street, I was talking to her last night, she was in her garage and there were two snakes in driveway with their heads sticking up out of the water,” Thompson said. “Two doors down there was a lady, she looked out on her front porch and there was one on her front porch.”

Perhaps their greatest concern, however, was what to do next. With the forecast calling for another barrage of rain, the two were discussing whether to evacuate or stick it out.

Either way, the house on Cordgrass Lane will still be their home.

“We’ll be here when the next one comes,” Jones said. “We’ll be OK.”

On the other side of the neighborhood, Russ Hines wasn’t taking any chances with the ditch behind his house.

The water wasn’t draining quickly and crept halfway up his backyard Friday.

“I didn’t sleep well last night,” he said.

The following afternoon, he was putting sandbags in front of his doors and garage.

“Just to be safe,” he said.

This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Fields look like lakes, streets look like streams."