Conway preps Halloween decor ahead of tropical storm. What about pumpkin trees?
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Conway is hoping a tropical storm that may hit the Carolinas won’t turn into a scary scene for the city.
A potential tropical storm that could impact the Myrtle Beach area as early as this weekend has prompted the city of Conway to pause its Halloween decorations.
Each year the city of Conway transforms into a Halloween-town, complete with animatronic characters, ghosts and creepy scenes throughout the city, as well as pumpkins in the trees that line the downtown streets.
It is a holiday favorite, drawing thousands of visitors to the city. The city has been receiving messages asking what will become of the decorations if the storm hits, said city of Conway spokesperson June Wood.
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Hurricane Humberto and an unnamed disturbance near the Dominican Republic could bring stormy weather to South Carolina this weekend into next week. National Weather Service meteorologists expect Humberto to pass between the Carolinas and Bermuda without directly impacting South Carolina.
However, another unnamed tropical storm also might form this weekend or early next week, which could have direct impacts on the Carolinas, according to the National Weather Service. A tropical wave near the Dominican Republic is moving northwest across the Southwestern Atlantic with showers and thunderstorms. The NWS predicts the system has a 70% chance of forming a tropical storm, which would be named Imelda, by Saturday morning and a 90% chance of forming by next Thursday.
Conway employees spent Thursday and Friday in storm prep mode, readying for the potential storm, which included securing some Halloween decorations and planning what to do with other items if the area is affected.
City employees are securing larger items and putting some of them away, Wood said. Staff may come in over the weekend to secure smaller decor depending on the weather, she said.
While Wood said that Halloween is important to the city, “Our main focus is storm prep,” she said. “Halloween is secondary.”
The city declared a state of emergency Thursday in anticipation of impacts from the storm.
The city is not finished with its decorations, Wood said. While many of them are currently on display, the city decor is usually not ready until the beginning of October. Employees are not putting up any new decorations until after the storm.
One thing is for sure, the hundreds of pumpkins in the city trees “won’t be taken down,” Wood said.
The pumpkins are plastic and have a hole in the bottom, she said.
“We know some of them will fall out of the trees, but they’re not going to be dangerous,” Wood said.
If they do fall out of the trees, Wood said “they just roll down the road.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 10:53 AM.
