Flooding reported across the Grand Strand as Hurricane Isaias moves into South Carolina
There is reported flooding in coastal Grand Strand communities as Hurricane Isaias passes over the area Monday night.
There are flooded roads in North Myrtle Beach, Garden City, Surfside Beach and Myrtle Beach from the rain dumped on the area from the storm. Areas of Cherry Grove were seeing some of the worst flooding. Raymond Dennis lives on 29th Avenue North and estimated the water is about 4 feet high.
“There’s waves of water. You got some trees down,” he said.
The flooding is some of the worst in the last 30 years and the most damaging since Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Dennis said.
A Sun News photographer said the water had made Sea Mountain Highway nearly impassable with a strong current. There was also wind that made it difficult to stand. Propane tanks, coolers and debris was pushed along by water’s current.
“Sea Mountain Highway is just impassible,” a North Myrtle Beach police officer said on police radio traffic around 10:30 p.m.
In other parts of North Myrtle Beach, rescuers helped people from their homes as the water rose. North Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue said storm surge was 4 to 5 feet. A wind gust of 55 mph was recorded around 9:45 p.m.
North Myrtle Beach fire crews also responded to several fires in homes, spokesman Pat Dowling said. One had significant damage, one had moderate damage and the others had the fires quickly extinguished.
The water was a couple of feet deep in Surfside Beach and some of the beach sand had eroded. There was some flooding on roads in Myrtle Beach, including Ocean Boulevard.
In addition to heavy rain, Hurricane Isaias also brought strong winds to the Horry County area. The storm has sustained winds of 85 mph., which makes it a category 1 hurricane. The Apache Pier near North Myrtle Beach suffered wind damage as the storm moved into the area.
This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 9:35 PM.
