COLUMBIA, SC (WBTW) – South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster says evacuation orders for Horry and Georgetown counties will be lifted Sunday morning, September 16 at 9 a.m. At that time, “the governor will have restored local officials’ authority over school schedules and all state government offices will be open for normal business hours on Monday in all previously evacuated areas,” according to a press release.
Myrtle Beach City leaders warn that evacuees may find shortages of gas and food. So people returning to the area are encouraged to fill up on gas and groceries before reaching the Grand Strand area.
Earlier, McMaster had lifted evacuation orders for all other previously evacuated zones. At that time the governor said the risk of flooding is what kept the evacuation order in place in Horry and Georgetown counties.
“It’s the flooding,” says Gov. McMaster. “As we have known from the very beginning as the storm turned into a hurricane and came ashore…if you’ve seen on television, the graphics of all the rain falling in North Carolina as well as in South Carolina, record amounts of rainfall measured in feet in some places and not inches.”
WBTW StormTracker13 Chief Meteorologist Frank Johnson says some rivers in the Pee Dee and Grand Strand will see major flood levels.
Gov. McMaster says the rain in South Carolina, as well as downflow from North Carolina, has the potential to create severe flooding.
“Some of those rivers in North Carolina flow right down into South Carolina. So not only are those rivers swelling based on the water falling on South Carolina, but we have the water from North Carolina as well,” the governor adds.
South Carolina Department of Transportation has developed a plan with the Army Corps of Engineers and the South Carolina Army National Guard to keep major roads open into Horry County despite the threat of flooding.
The team will build emergency flood control structures to divert the flood waters away from the roadways in order to keep the roads open. The team will build a one-mile structure along Highway 378 over the Lynches River in Florence County. The team will also construct a 1.5-mile structure along U.S. 501 overpass to protect the road from the rising Waccamaw River.
South Carolina Secretary of Transportation Christy Hall says crews will begin building the structure late Saturday afternoon.