HORRY COUNTY, SC (WBTW) – The county is working on a plan with the goal of avoiding the devastating floods many neighborhoods saw after Hurricane Florence.

One of those neighborhoods was Rosewood in Socastee. Several feet of water from the Intracoastal Waterway surrounded homes there a few weeks after Florence. The county is talking to people living in areas like Rosewood, along with scientists and engineers, to avoid severe river flooding in the next big storm.

For Socastee residents like Connie Parrish, recovering from several major floods has been extremely tough. Parrish was one of dozens of people at Socastee High School on Tuesday to learn about the county’s flood resilience plan.

Parrish says she hasn’t been able to rebuild her home on Recreation Road since Hurricane Matthew flooded it three years ago.

“I just can’t imagine living in a place with that raw sewage,” she said. “I still have nightmares about that, about trying to let the Coast Guard in to rescue me.”

Several scientists and engineers are working with the county to figure out the best ways to prevent hurricanes and other storms from creating major floods again.

“We’re looking for information about what their greatest challenges are, not just during the storm, but after the storm and in the recovery period,” said Tom Jost, a principal at Sherwood Design Engineers.

The county says the flood resilience plan will make several changes like to planning and zoning, roads and stormwater drainage.

“We believe that there are going to be some infrastructure improvements that need to be made and there are going to be some policy directives that have to be decided upon,” said Courtney Frappaolo, who’s the county’s director of community development.

Some Rosewood residents like Melissa Krupa say there are are some major changes needed.

“They keep building on wetlands,” Krupa said. “We’re going to keep flooding out, as long as they keep doing that. All our draining does need to be cleaned out to help with just runoff water.”

Parrish says she hopes the county can help people like her finally secure money from FEMA’s buyout program.

“I know that it’s going to flood again and I know that this is just a Band-Aid on it, trying to fix your home back,” said Parrish.

There are two more chances this week for you to talk to the county about any flood damage you’ve had. Those meetings are:

  • Wednesday, Oct. 23: 6-8 p.m. at North Strand Recreation Center, 120 State Hwy 57 S. in Little River
  • Thursday, Oct. 24: 6-8 p.m. at James R. Frazier Community Center, 1370 Bucksport Road in Bucksport

It will take about six months to develop the flood resilience plan and the goal is to present it to county council early next year.