HORRY COUNTY, SC (WBTW) – People in flood-prone areas on the South Strand are especially worried about possible storm surge from Hurricane Dorian.
Garden City Beach is known for its flooding even on a beautiful day. While many elevated homes there aren’t boarded up, some ground-level buildings are getting ready for Dorian.
Two years ago, Matthew Hutton opened up Garden City Coffee Grounds, a cafe on Atlantic Avenue.
“We put these up to remind everybody just what can happen,” said Hutton, pointing to marks on the wall from past storm surges. “We had (Hurricane) Matthew when we first got here, about two feet. Then we got Hugo, all the way up here, Category 4 storm when it hit.”
His building is right where Garden City Beach often floods like during a king tide last week.
“We’re hoping it’s no Hugo and more of a Matthew,” Hutton said. “Even this is a pain to us. Even this stops everything.”
On Thursday, the marshy areas around Garden City may be trying to hold back four to seven feet of storm surge. At the MarshWalk in Murrells Inlet, popular restaurants are boarded up and adored, island-living goats have been evacuated.
Up the coast in Surfside Beach, a few homes and businesses are also protected, while the town pier, destroyed after Matthew, waits for the next storm.
“Hurricane Matthew took out my grandparents’ house, so when that came through, it kind of messed it up, tore it up,” said Marshall Walker of Surfside.
Walker, who works with water and sewer lines for RH Moore, says he may have to go out into Dorian to help with coastal flooding.
“I think it would be rewarding being out in the storm and helping everybody out,” he said.
Surfside also has sand available for sandbags at Martin Field. The address is 650 South Dogwood Drive.
Parts of Surfside, Garden City and Murrells Inlet are in the mandatory evacuation zone from the ocean to Kings Highway.