CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – As the Waccamaw River continues to rise, national news outlets are taking note of the potential, and likely imminent damage that will occur in inland Horry County.
HLN was in Conway Thursday morning and spoke with Conway City Administrator Adam Emrick.
“So we’re worried right now that the water is going to come up about four feet higher than Hurricane Matthew levels, which were an all-time record, and that’s going to be pretty devastating for this community,” says Emrick during a Thursday morning interview.
The interview took place near the Conway Riverwalk right off the Waccamaw River. The HLN anchor notes the drastic rise in water levels from his visit just days prior.
“This is the Waccamaw River,” says Emrick. “This is the river that we sit on. It’s part of our river city heritage here…it’s at flood stage clearly. We’re looking at this coming up to 21 feet. We’ve got at least six more feet to go. When you think about how much more water is going to be in this, where you were last week, we’re looking at double where it was then.”
Emrick spoke on President Donald Trump’s visit to Conway Wednesday, saying the president spent time in neighborhoods that were hit hard by flash flooding, but the sustained flooding is yet to come.
“With the Waccamaw River and the way our watershed works, we have flash flooding that happens days in advance of the sustained flooding,” Emrick explains. “We’re worried about the people being apathetic that the flood waters are gone and they think they’re out of the woods but it’s going to get worse.”
Emrick also warned residents to not get in the flood waters as it’s possible sewage will leak into and contaminate the water.
“The hurricane is gone but the devastation hasn’t got here yet. We’re still waiting on the disaster, and it’s coming,” warns Emrick
