King Tide washout delays Pawleys Island beach renourishment

PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC (WBTW) – Monday’s king tide washed up five to six inches of saltwater on Pawleys Island causing clogged drains, an erosion of water, collapsing asphalt, and a delay to the town’s beach renourishment.

Saltwater was surging between and under beach homes making its way onto the street before quickly resulting in standing water.

The washout came as salt water trapped in sand dunes forced sand into drainage of the basin slowing down and nearly blocking water from being able to recede.

Following Hurricane Dorian, many residents have been awaiting the beach renourishment, scheduled to begin tomorrow prior to today’s washout, as their homes recently lack protected dune structure.

“A lot of these houses now do not have protection they would normally have from these high tides. The waves were not particularly big but the sea level came up with the king tide and pushed whatever sand was there into the streets in certain areas,” Pawleys Island Police Chief Mike Fanning said.

The town’s beach renourishment was scheduled to begin Tuesday but has now been delayed five or six days and won’t begin until next week.

The washout not only brought delay a significant project within the town but also flooding and drainage concern from residents as this marked the second drainage and flooding event on Spring Avenue this month.

The road was closed a few weeks ago for multiple days following Hurricane Dorian.

Residents now depend on the beach renourishment for a resolution to drainage and washout events like today.

“Once the beach re nourishment is done, the dune structure will be built back up and will be able to protect the homes and the roadway,” Fanning said.

Officials are confident the 100+ feet of sand will bring the beach back to where it needs to be.

SCDOT will continue to work on repairing the damaged street on Tuesday and officials expect cleanup should be complete within the next couple of days. The beach renourishment will is delayed until next week and the south parking lot will remain closed throughout entire project.