After Florence, South Carolinians prepare for record flood

GEORGETOWN, SC – They survived the mighty wind and hurricane rain of Hurricane Florence, but the people of the South Carolina coast are now wondering how they will cross the historic floods caused by the torrents of the storm.

Robert Maring, a lawyer and business owner in Georgetown, South Carolina, was eagerly anticipating Tuesday's flood and would do everything in his power to protect his businesses, including a restaurant with which he is associated in the city. The restaurant staff helped out as much as they could get back in advance.

"We are doing everything we can to save this restaurant.We know that floods are occurring.It's like being tracked by a turtle," Maring told NBC News on Tuesday. "As we live on the coast here, hurricanes are only a reality and we have to deal with them, but nothing like that – it's historic."

Georgetown – located on Winyah Bay, where several rivers converge – is expected to experience a record flood in Florence, which landed as a Category 1 cyclone 11 days ago in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.

While the strongest of the storm was felt in the north, with only a few fallen trees and light floods in Georgetown, Georgetown County headquarters, there is now expected to be a record flood when swollen rivers spill out.

Earlier in the week, county officials urged nearly 8,000 Georgetown residents to evacuate before a "record event" of up to 10-foot floods, the Associated Press reported.

The flood is expected to begin Tuesday near some parts of the Pee Dee and Waccamaw rivers. Tuesday, in Conway, North Carolina, about fifty kilometers north of Georgetown, several meters of water had already invaded the streets, damaging houses, reported WMBF News, an affiliate of NBC in South Carolina.

"This area has never been flooded before, it should never be flooded," said Adam Emrick, administrator of Conway City, at the station.

To make matters worse, more rain is forecast for the region. A low pressure zone south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, could become a tropical depression as the coast approaches National Hurricane Center. Even if it is not, it will continue to bring rain to the north and south coasts of Carolina.

Georgetown County officials predict that the water will be flooded by bridges, and the ridge is not expected until Thursday.

Maring said he feared that "it could be catastrophic," but said he hoped his business – and his city – would survive.

"George Washington has spent the night in Georgetown, so we've been here for a while and we hope to be there for a long time," he said.

"So, let's take this flood, let's persevere, we'll rebuild we'll do everything right."

Fomil reported from Georgetown and Gutierrez from Conway, S.C. Chuck reported from New York