Hurricane Florence – Horry County Repair/Rebuild

Event

Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina as Category 1 hurricane on Sept 14th, 2018. The hurricane was massive in size, recorded at 350 miles wide as it hung over the Carolina’s for days after it made landfall, and moved at an incredibly slow pace, 6 mph, which allowed the storm to dump record breaking amounts of rain.

Between September 13 and September 16, widespread areas reported more than 30 inches of rain, some areas as much as 40 inches. Rivers and creeks continued to rise as the days went on causing widespread flooding not only in North Carolina, but South Carolina as well. Damages caused by Hurricane Florence and the flooding aftermath is projected to be as high as 22 billion dollars.

We were on the ground in September 2018, days after Hurricane Florence passed over the East Coast. Horry County in South Carolina suffered from historic flooding that lasted for weeks after Hurricane Florence. Our Response Project worked helping families sandbag and move personal items in anticipation of the flood waters. Once the water receded we worked through December gutting homes, tarping roofs, and helping families sort through and attempt to salvage their damaged personal belongings.