CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – While the exact track of Irma is still unknown, people who live along the Waccamaw River say they’re preparing regardless.
Most of them tell me they’re worried and thinking ‘not again’ as they carefully watch Irma’s path. The area saw flooding during October of 2015 and during Hurricane Matthew.
Homer Reader lives along the river, and for him, the memories of Matthew are as clear as the marks it left behind.
He just built a new deck after Matthew destroyed his old one, and now, he’s waiting to see what Irma will bring.
“The first year we were here we had the storm that was off the coast, which flooded the back yard. Last year, we had Matthew, which flooded the back yard, and we’re getting prepared for this year, that might flood the back yard,” said Reader.
Usually, he says you wouldn’t be able to see water from his back yard, but with it as high as it is already, he’s worried about any rain Irma will bring.
“We tore down the canvas and put everything into our back screened porch, took the furniture down, out that in the porch, brought in the grill,” said Reader.
Still, even if the water rises, Reader says he and several of his neighbors plan to stay because of what they’ve seen happen during other storms.
“I worry about our house. You see a lot of looting in other places, and if we leave and everybody else leaves, somebody’s got to watch the neighborhood. So, that’s me,” said Reader.
We’re expecting 2-4 inches of rain in Horry County with Irma, and the Wacammaw has a 40-50 percent chance of exceeding minor flood stage Wednesday.
The forecast has the Wacammaw River forecasted to slowly fall, but that could change if we get more rain than expected.
