What’s the flooding like now? (Florence, Myrtle Beach: oceanfront, insurance, condo)

[Kaisermust]

I don’t want to add insult to injury to those whose homes have flooded from the torrential amount of rain from Florence but can anyone honestly tell me what the flooding situation is like in Longs, Loris,Little River? We were all set to leave to come down and scout out potential retirement homes when Florence blew in. Our realtor down there had suggested developments and areas out off of 9 in Longs and a bit further west in Loris but from what I’ve been able to read online these areas are all under water now. (put a call into realtor 3 days ago but she hasn’t gotten back to me—I suspect maybe her home in Longs is under water). As I understand it these areas haven’t flooded in over 25 yrs so many people did not have flood insurance cuz they don’t live in a flood zone. When we do come down—probably in the spring how can we trust any home we see that it wasn’t under water from Florence? Can homeowners even get flood insurance if you’re not usually in a floor zone? nd what does flood insurance cost for an average 3BR/2BA 2000 Sq ft home? I do hope the homes of the regulars on this forum escaped major damage.

[Retire in MB]

Yes, you can get flood insurance even if you are not on a flood plain. I have a 3BR/3BA about 2000 feet in the Market Common area. My insurance is $450 a year. Location and flooding history will make a major difference in what you pay.

Here's some news stories and video about flooding in that area,

https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/ne...218935095.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VEpNxBt7Rc

This map shows what flooded after Hurricane Mathew in 2016
ArcGIS Web Application

[e66330]

No knowledge of what Florence did to the north end of the Grand Strand but I would pass on Loris and the furthest out parts of Longs . I have not read much about Loris and Longs that is overwhelmingly positive lately .

[importman]

Agree with what e66330 said about Longs.

[kingping]

I was in a flooded neighborhood in Longs earlier. The smell is over powering.

[canudigit]

We just returned from a trip to Myrtle Beach to check out our condo yesterday. Fortunately for us, our condo is on the 9th floor and oceanfront in MB so it didn't sustain any damage at all.

My heart breaks for all of the people in the outlying areas where the flooding occurred, to say it is terrible doesn't begin to cover it. Many people have completely lost their homes for good because they had no flood insurance and their houses have been destroyed, along with all or most of their possessions. We offered to help with relief efforts in Conway in any way that we could but they said that while they appreciated the offer, they did not want people other than official rescue personnel coming into the area who don't live there for liability reasons and also because there were already way too may people driving through Conway and clogging things up even more. We came and went via 17 North which was not flooded.

If you still have your heart set on moving to the area, buy flood insurance, regardless of where your house is. Many people who got flooded this time felt confident that it could never happen to them because Hurricane Matthew didn't reach their homes two years ago and they thought at the time that Matthew was "the storm of a lifetime"...until evil Florence came along. On our way home through North Carolina we found evidence of flooding many, many miles from the coast and places like McDonald's in towns fifty miles inland were still closed due to flooding this past Wednesday.

As far as Longs and Loris go, I wouldn't do it. As I mentioned, we are property owners in the area so I keep tabs on the local news through a couple of the local TV news websites:

WMBF News - Grand Strand, Pee Dee news, First Alert Weather - WMBFNews.com

https://wpde.com/

For being small towns, the crime there seems to be out of proportion. You can be the judge of that, but if you monitor the crime via these websites, you will see what I mean. I may get some flack here for saying that, but I'm just reporting what I have observed from watching these sites for the past few years. There are probably many wonderful people who live there and chances are you would be fine, but I would still reconsider those options.