People affected by flooding last year in Socastee, Conway, and Bucksport met for a panel discussion Monday night at Coastal Carolina University. Several solutions were brought to the table during the talk.
“I know in Rosewood there’s a lot of people rebuilding, there’s some houses going up on stilts, you know, up in the air, and you know, we still haven’t gotten anywhere with how to stop the flooding,” said Melissa Krupa, one of those who was left without a home after hurricane flooding.
She says Monday night’s panel discussion was a chance to get somewhere with flooding preparations.
“Absolutely, because I think the only way we’re going to get anywhere is in numbers,” she said.
Krupa, along with others, agreed that coming together is a solution in itself.
Guest speaker Dr. Paul Gayes agrees, and says money won’t fix everything.
“At the same time, you’re going to have to decide,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to come up with enough money to solve every problem.”
He says the solution centers around prioritizing where the money is spent to repair and protect flood zones.
“Long term, let’s not make it worse,” he said. “Short term, determine where you’re going to put your resources and you can really hold the line, and then go ahead and engineer it and do it, if that’s what you’re going to do.”
One panelist proposed the group create a local coalition, that would allow them to take a look at the types of steps that would reduce flood risk.
“We need to evolve, we need to adapt, we need to change how we’re functioning with a changing landscape and a changing climate,” said April O’Leary.
Dr. Gayes says the water level will continue to rise, so people now in flood zones need to stay in contact with local officials to keep pushing for a strategy.
One person in the audience mentioned that 75% of the flood waters come from North Carolina and that another solution could be getting help from North Carolina and DHEC.
