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In a recent act of soaking off the Carolina coast, the waters of Hurricane Florence are expected to pour into Georgetown, South Carolina.
Although the community of 9,000 people avoided the eye of the storm and much of the rain in the days following the hurricane, flooding is now inevitable as the water flowing from the inland strikes the coast.
Local officials said they expected the rivers near Georgetown to reach record levels on Thursday.
The community is doing everything in its power to keep the historic city above the water while the city is waiting for 5 to 10 feet of water in the streets. Some 26,000 sandbags have been distributed since the weekend, said Randy Akers, deputy chief of information for the Georgetown County Emergency Operations Center.
Municipal offices and schools will be closed until further notice. The shelters are ready to welcome families and pets. The National Guard is in place to assist in water rescue operations.
Tuesday night, the city was still on voluntary evacuation, said Georgetown Mayor Brendon Barber. "The city is not closed, but we have installed water dams between the bridges [the highway]Added Barber.
The South Carolina Transportation Department barricaded the bridge connecting Georgetown to the rest of the state with 3-foot-high plastic dams. It will only hold water for a while and it's just a step to keeping the bridge and road open for as long as possible, Akers said. The highway will eventually be flooded, he added.
The Winyah Bay area, located in Georgetown, is a convergence of all major rivers in this part of the state, said Akers. "It's basically like a five or six lane highway coming down a lane at the same point," he said.
Already, water has infiltrated into the historic Front Street, Barber said.
The owner of Barber's favorite restaurant, Old Fish House, aka Big Tuna, sits on the Great Pee Dee River Harbor Boardwalk on Front Street. The patio faces the river where the boats are attached to the pier. Bucky Watkins, 68, said he had closed Tuesday. "We took everything out of the restaurant: all the kitchen equipment, everything. [We’re] pretty much all around the water's height. It's like a record tide. They say we are supposed to have about 5-8 [feet] and it'll be in my restaurant, "he said.
Last week, the water rose 2 feet into the river and was dropped immediately after crossing Florence to the north. Even with current forecasts of major floods, many people are not evacuating.
"Nothing really happened and I trust nothing and I do not pray," said Laura Herriott, one of the 50 residents of Gullah's descendants at Sandy Island, which is a short ferry ride from Georgetown. No one else from the small community is evacuating, she said, adding, "We monitored each other."
The house of Herriott is nestled between two rivers. Where she parks her car, the water is already touching the tires.
Officials warned that getting out of the flood could be a bad idea. "It worries me that people will stay where they are and I hope it will not affect them, especially on Sandy Island, on the river," said Akers.
To emphasize the sense of urgency in the community, more than 150 law enforcement officers from across the state converged on Georgetown County to drive into town with screaming sirens, urging people to consider evacuating. Nearly 8,000 households across the county could be affected, Akers added.
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