Hurricane Matthew rips through Myrtle Beach
MYRTLE BEACH — The backside of Hurricane Matthew, still stiffly blowing through this beach community Saturday evening, brought as much danger to the region as the earliest hours of the storm.
The Atlantic Ocean reached high tide about 1:30 p.m., coinciding with Matthew’s arrival. The roiling waters laid waste to several piers, including the longest on Myrtle Beach, Springmaid Pier. Only about a tenth of the wooden structure’s 1,060 feet remained after the hurricane’s initial assault.
As high tide receded, officials implemented a 6 p.m. curfew and cautioned residents to stay inside. Much of the danger lay unseen underground, where soils saturated with up to a foot of rain left trees vulnerable to being uprooted.
By early evening, dozens of mature trees were down along – and some across – Kings Highway, a major thoroughfare that runs parallel to the coast Horry County.
Pines and oaks as thick as telephone booths had snapped in some areas, while in the Surfside Beach community, four large utility poles strung with power lines leaned precariously away from Kings Highway.
RELATED: Notable places damaged by Hurricane Matthew
By late afternoon, emergency dispatchers in that area said they could not respond to calls. It was too dangerous for first responders.
Officials would not be able to fully assess damage until at least Sunday, said Brooke Holden, spokeswoman for Horry County Emergency Management.
“There are a lot of power lines down and it may appear safe, and we know you’ve heard it again and again, but do not go around barricades. You might see patches of blue sky, but we are still in a dangerous situation,” she said. “We are putting barricades out and crews are working constantly. We are doing our best to keep up.”
Officials had rescued several drivers who had attempted to take on high water, she said. No fatalities had been reported by Saturday evening.
Throughout the area, awnings and portions of some roofs had been ripped off businesses; in others, windows that had not been protected with plywood were broken.
At a hotel on the Myrtle Beach’s northside, Debbie Aston said she and her husband opted to leave their oceanfront condo after managers there said they planned to turn off elevator service, so no one would be trapped inside should the power fail.
Her husband has a problem with his leg, she said, and the couple did not want to risk navigating eight flights of steps.
She went to work at 7 a.m., and was stopped by police who asked why she needed to be out, she said. In early evening, the couple ventured out to a pub – one of the few open restaurants – to grab a hot meal. It closed at 5 p.m. in deference to the curfew.
“’We were scared of the storm surge,” Aston said of her decision to take shelter in a hotel. “It’s worse now than it was this morning. The wind and the power lines out there, it’s scary.”
