Mobile Home Sales in Golivants Ferry, SC

Rivers throughout South Carolina’s Pee Dee region are sitting at normal levels and aren’t projected to approach flood stages this week even as Hurricane Ian and other tropical storms are churning toward the U.S. mainland.

The National Weather Service has issued an advisory for the state’s northeast portion through Sunday as Ian’s track becomes more certain, though forecasters aren’t warning of hazardous conditions in the region.

The 140-mile-long river flows across the southwestern part of Horry County, running past Conway as it hugs the Atlantic Ocean.

As of Sept. 26, the Waccamaw was sitting at 8.3 feet, and shouldn’t rise above 8.6 feet through the weekend, according to National Weather Service hydrology maps.

Sept. 26 is significant for county residents who lived here in 2018, when storm waters from Hurricane Florence pushed the river to its highest-ever recorded level of 21.16 feet on that exact day four years ago.

Minor flood level is 11 feet. Anything at least 14 feet and greater is considered a major flood event. Minor flooding of yards in areas around Lee’s Landing, Pitch Landing and Savannah Bluff in unincorporated parts of the county that abut the river doesn’t happen until around 11.5 feet. At 13 feet, residential areas off S.C Highways 905 and 90 will begin to flood. Conway’s marina and downtown locations stay mostly dry until the river hits 15 feet, but U.S. 501 remains usable until levels creep to 21 feet.

The 116-mile-long Pee Dee tributary joins its namesake at the confluence of Horry, Georgetown and Marion counties.

As of Sept. 26, it was 3.6 feet and is on track to drawn to 3.3 feet by Sept. 30, according to a gauge station at Galivants Ferry.

The river’s historic crest also came during Hurricane Florence when on Sept. 21, 2018 it hit 17.21 feet, barely surpassing 2016 levels brought by Hurricane Matthew.

The Little Pee Dee has the capacity for 8 feet of water before swelling over its banks. At 12 feet, dozens of homes in the rural Fork Retch community near Nichols would see flooding.

The National Weather Service’s Pee Dee gauge — situated along U.S. Route 301 in Florence County - has the river sitting at just feet as of Sept. 27. It should remain at that level at least through Oct. 1.

With a flood stage of 19 feet, there’s no threat of runoff into neighboring Horry County due to Ian or any other tropical storm that could make landfall within the next 10 days.

The Pee Dee hit 31.83 feet on Sept. 21, 2018 during Hurricane Florence.

Downstream flooding from North Carolina waterways can have a devastating effect on the Grand Strand, so weather watchers here always keep an eye across the state line.

The Lumber River’s monitoring station in Lumberton — 78 miles north of Myrtle Beach — has water levels at 6.8 feet as of Sept. 26, with a steady decline projected through Oct. 1. Flood stage is 13 feet.

Horry County, SC (WPDE) — More than one thousand pills and about $26,000 were seized after a search warrant was served in Galivants Ferry Thursday morning.

The 15th Circuit Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) lead the operation, alongside the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the Horry County Sheriff's Office (HCSO), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) diversion team and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).

About 20 law enforcement officers participated in the operation.

32-year-old Amy Mishoe was arrested. She was out on bond for several drug related charges and now she is facing additional charges.

From Thursday's arrests, she is currently facing 8 counts of distribution 3rd and subsequent schedule I through III controlled substance, DEU agents said. More charges are expected to follow.

One of the growing trends and dangers is the rise in popularity of fentanyl.

“We’re seeing a lot more fentanyl. We are seeing it mixed with heroin, we are seeing it compressed into pill form," one DEU agent said.

Until the pills seized today are tested, it's unknown if any are laced with fentanyl, and that unknown is part of the danger for officers. That is why law enforcement agencies take extra precautions like carrying narcan.

“There have been incidents across the nation where officers are running into houses to make arrests, execute search warrants and they be exposed to some of that [fentanyl] powder. In situations the target may throw the powder to get rid of it, " one DEU agent said.

Combating the heroin epidemic, as well as getting drugs off the streets, is a priority for the DEU.

“Anytime you have people dying it becomes a priority for us," one DEU agent said.

One of the frustrating things DEU agents face is seeing repeat offenders, which they say is common.

“When you have someone who has been in trouble, they get arrested, they get a bond, they promise the judge that they aren’t going to do it, that they’re going to abide by the rules of their bond and their release and they go right back to doing the same thing," one DEU agent said.

One agent said he would like to see harsher penalties to try to combat the drug problem in our area.

“Tougher penalties, legislation, putting these people in jail for longer periods of time," he said.

DEU agents continue to work to get drugs off the streets and out of our community.

GALIVANTS FERRY, S.C. (WPDE) — South Carolina is just one vote away from becoming first in the Presidential Primary elections and if that happens Galivants Ferry Stump organizer Sally Howard said Horry County would be on a national stage.

The Galivants Ferry Stump is a Democratic campaign tradition that’s brought candidates face-to-face with rural voters in Horry County for nearly 150 years.

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Getting its name from the idea of candidates speaking to voters on top of a tree stump all those years ago, the tradition carries on, still held on the porch of the old General Store in Galivants Ferry, and still sponsored by the Holliday families as its always been.

While it's typically held in the Spring, if South Carolina moves up on the Presidential Primary calendar, Howard said they would move the Stump to the fall, for a ‘Presidential Stump,’ which has only happened once before in 2019.

“Three years ago we had a Stump for the ‘20 election, but we held it in the fall of ‘19, so we could have the presidential candidates actually attend. Which, President Joe Biden came back for the second time!” she said.

Certainly we were excited when we first heard the news that South Carolina would move up in the primary calendar for Presidential Primaries to be in first.

During the 2019 event, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, and Bill DeBlasio also spoke.

“The excitement would of course be bringing national figures to Horry County,” Howard said.

“It brings a major following with them from an economic point of view because you have the traveling press that travels with national candidates.”

She said that extends to the entire state as the nation would be getting its first glimpse of the upcoming Presidential election.

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“As much attention as we’ve gotten in being a quote ‘early state,’ the attention that we would get as the first state is nationwide!” she said.

All eyes would be on South Carolina.

She said it would also deliver messages to voters in the middle of the political spectrum.

“There’s a middle in there that both sides must compete for, and I think that the attention and positions of national candidates would put the people to listen to democratic candidates,” she said.

While the DNC will vote on the idea in February Howard said she expects South Carolina will stay in the early list of primaries.

“The whole point is South Carolina reflects the population of the whole United States far better than the first two we have now,” she said. “There’s little to none of any minority voters in those first two states, and the makeup in South Carolina is far more reflective of the United States."

She said she expects there to be some discussion no matter what, however.

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“I expect there to be some battles because Iowa and New Hampshire have been first, I think Iowa would probably drop by the side and not be in the first, but I think there will be a battle with New Hampshire,” Howard said.

“We’ll wait and see with what happens with the vote in February, but I would expect South Carolina to stay in the early list of primaries,” she said. “But it would be awesome to be first.”

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - The Myrtle Beach City Council voted in favor of two resolutions on Tuesday that they hope will help solve the lack of housing options for city employees.

“Our hotels, our mom-and-pop businesses, all the way up to corporate America that is in Myrtle Beach needs help so that we have a more active workforce in our community,” said councilmember John Krajc.

The city enlisted the help of Habitat for Humanity of Horry County in 2021, which conducted an assessment of affordability problems in the city, as well as offered suggestions to increase affordability going forward.

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“This is wonderful for the workforce if they can find a place to actually live and work in the same area,” said Jason Greene, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Horry County.

Krajc, who fully backs the workforce housing plan, said the studies done will allow city officials to make decisions based on data.

“Of course, with workforce housing, there will be some subjectivity, but we have to have an objective baseline,” he said.

The approval of the resolutions on Tuesday means the city will now allow Habitat for Humanity to manage its strategic plan, which was proposed back in July.

“The city of Myrtle Beach’s desire to help with attainability within the city limits is certainly in line with our corporate mission and what we are trying to accomplish here in Horry County,” said Greene.

Krajc also emphasized the safety factor.

“Imagine after big emergencies like hurricanes, having folks from streets department, public works, first responders in the city limits versus in Conway, Galivants Ferry, Aynor... 30, 40 minutes away, sometimes inaccessible to the city,” he said. “That’s a massive difference for response times.”

Krajc said he is excited to see the progress made this year.

“If we are working together as a team collectively and collaboratively, there is no reason we can’t see some really big steps happen in the next six months to 12 months,” he said.

A study revealed in 2021 that out of 41,000 full-time employees in Myrtle Beach, only 6,000 employees work and live within the city limits.

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COLUMBIA, S.C (WPDE) — The South Carolina Forestry Commission is issuing a statewide Red Flag Fire Alert, effective at 6 a.m. Monday, March 7.

The alert is being issued to discourage people from burning outdoors when weather conditions present an elevated risk of wildfire. In addition to weather forecasts for most of the state calling for higher-than-normal winds and wind gusts in the near term, the agency is already responding to a dramatic uptick in wildfire ignitions in the past 72 hours.

The agency has recorded 106 wildfires that have burned more than 1,500 acres between Thursday and Saturday, adding to a busy season that has already seen more wildfires in the first three months of 2022 than all of last fiscal year (July 2020-June 2021).

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“One of our major concerns in addition to the elevated fire danger itself is that fire activity may exceed our capacity to respond. These conditions could create a scenario where we have more fires than we have resources,” said SCFC Fire Chief Darryl Jones. “The increase in fires is something we expect and plan for at the start of spring every year, but strong winds can really push fire danger to its limit, and we’re seeing that now.”

The high winds and gusts, combined with the very dry fuels on the ground, are also leading to re-ignitions of previously contained fires. While March is historically one of the busiest months for the Forestry Commission, firefighters on the ground are reporting this week’s spate of more frequent and larger-than-average fires are taking longer – and more firefighting resources – to contain and ultimately control.

A Red Flag Fire Alert does not prohibit outdoor burning, provided that all other state and local regulations are followed, but the Forestry Commission uses the alert to strongly encourage citizens to voluntarily postpone any such burning until the alert is lifted.

Although a Red Flag Fire Alert does not ban outdoor burning, it does trigger certain county or local ordinances that restrict outdoor fires, so residents should contact their local fire departments to check whether such restrictions apply in their areas. SCFC officials expect to lift the alert later in the week as weather conditions improve.