The severe flooding from Hurricane Florence has covered several streets and highways, preventing many from reaching their homes. However, the flooding didn’t stop some people in the Longs area from getting to church Sunday morning. 

“Everything that went on this week, it’s just a touching thing to see this building standing and to see everything put back together,” said Scotty Jacobs. 

Floodwaters have washed out Highway 9 in the Longs area, which is the route he and his wife, Tara, drive every Sunday to attend Living Water Baptist Church. When they heard the flooding had spared the church on Hwy 9, they decided to attend come hell or high water.

“When we saw that the water wasn’t in, we knew we had to do something. It was a matter of we’re gonna do it. It may take us a little while, we may have to start early, but we’re gonna be there.”

Scotty and Tara boated down the Waccamaw River and through flooded streets – “normally you’d be driving a car right where we are,” he noted along the way – to pray. However, they didn’t pray for themselves.

“Half the people where we stay at, they don’t have flood insurance or anything. And they lost everything,” said Travis Lee, who also boated to church with his wife and two young children.

Though the Jacobs’ and Lees’ homes are still in tact, many other members of the church can’t say the same, including Barbara Canipe. She’s the owner of Canipe’s Candy Kitchen. It’s just across the street from Living Water but is currently inundated with floodwaters. She and her family members also live behind the storefront.

“Each house is flooded. My daughter’s apartment has about 4 to 5 feet of water. The factory, we really don’t know how bad that is but we will be out of business for quite some time. It’s a real stressful thing,” she said.

Canipe is leaning on the power of prayer to help her stay afloat.

“I couldn’t do it if I weren’t a Christian and had faith. If it wasn’t for that, I couldn’t make it through this,” she said.

Living Water Baptist Church also held an additional service at Buck Creek Baptist Church for the rest of the congregation who could not reach the church because of the flooding.