Myrtle Beach mayor urges caution from lingering Debby flooding
The coastal city of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is reeling from the lingering effects of Debby's rain and flooding on Aug. 7. The storm has impacted businesses and forced beaches to close.
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00:00Myrtle Beach has already seen a lot of flooding. We've been sharing a lot of that footage here on
00:03the AccuWeather Network. So what has Debbie's impact been so far to your coastal city?
00:09Well as of now it's been very minimal but we're not out of the woods yet. We still have a lot of
00:15rain to come and that is our biggest concern is the amount of water that this storm will bring
00:21as well as the fact that it's just going to stall over us for the next day or two.
00:26So the concern is definitely about flooding.
00:30And everyone loves the boardwalk there. So many of those local businesses. Have you seen big
00:35impacts along those businesses in the boardwalk? Any kind of injuries or road closures that you
00:40can report on? No injuries thank goodness but definitely our businesses will be impacted.
00:48August is the end of our peak tourist season. So the fact that our small businesses many of
00:54them are closed today. Many of our visitors have gone home in anticipation of the storm. So this
01:00will impact our business community and that's very unfortunate because this is the time of year
01:06where they make the bulk of their money. Yeah that's such an important reminder here with
01:09kind of an early season impact here. Typically we see that peak into September but now we're
01:13talking early August. So that is a big impact on coastal communities. So what are your teams
01:17focused on today as Debbie continues to bring more rain and more of that coastal push of water
01:22with more flooding? Our teams I have to give them such a huge shout out. They really worked all too
01:29well to prepare our city in anticipation of this tropical storm. And that includes lowering the
01:37levels in our storm water retention ponds to hold the extra water. Emptying out, cleaning out storm
01:43drains, ocean outfall drains. So really doing everything they can to keep our community as
01:49safe as possible. And they are on standby with high water vehicles and boats. Not only for our
01:55community if needed but for our neighbors who may not have the equipment that we do. We still have
02:00a lot of rain, some winds to come. Stay inside if at all possible and definitely do not go on the
02:08beach or in the ocean. We are at a double red flag warning. That means the ocean is closed.
02:14I know it's enticing especially to surfers but it's just too dangerous and it's not worth the risk.