As a native of the Grand Strand, I’ve enjoyed the water in our area: beaches, rivers, creeks and inlets. It’s what makes our home so special with the water becoming ingrained in our lives. With that water comes the chance of flooding.

Flooding is flooding: water spills over its banks and causes road closures, damage to property and impacts our scheduled plans. I’d like to split the flooding we experience in our area into two categories: Storm Surge and River Flooding.

Storm Surge refers to the abnormal rise in sea level during a coastal storm. This is caused by the winds of a storm pushing water on shore, the low pressure of the storm (picture the water being held in a hurricane like an upside down bowl) and the geography of the area being hit with storm surge. Many places along the coast are shallow and once the water gets past an initial barrier, the water pours in much further inland than you would think. These low areas can also be impacted by regular, minor flooding during King Tides (high tide during a full moon) and higher than normal tides caused by different meteorological events. One important note: No matter how much it rains, the Atlantic Ocean is not going to rise. It’s big and it can handle the rain. The flood zones marked in the Map Your Move tool closest to the coast are almost always marking areas impacted by storm surge. If a hurricane is approaching, please be sure to pay attention to the level of storm surge predicted and react accordingly. 

The second type of flooding is River Flooding. This is caused by high amounts of rain and that water overwhelms the river’s capacity. While there is some risk of flash flooding (sudden increase in the water level), that is very rare. The most common type of flooding our area experiences happens after days of rain (typically from a hurricane) and the water rises slowly over a couple of weeks. With the Waccamaw and Pee Dee Rivers along with the Intracoastal Waterway flowing through our area, we have experienced significant flooding events after lots of rain. The areas impacted by flooding are also marked on the Map Your Move tool. I also like to use the road closures feature so I can understand which roads closed after Hurricane Matthew and Florence. This type of flooding lasts much longer and has much larger impact to our area. 

If you have questions about flooding along the Grand Strand, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’d love to teach you how to use the Map Your Move Tool and also give you my firsthand experience of living here my entire life. We’re here to help!