South Carolina was spared the worst of Hurricane Florenceโs furyย when theย stormย made landfall in North Carolina on September 14, but did not escape its catastrophic impacts. Nearly two weeks later, the state was still contending with historicย flooding.ย
Flooded house in Socastee, Southย Carolina.
Florence lingered over the Carolinas, dumping more than 30 inches of rain in some areas. Five rivers and the IntraCoastal Waterway crested several feet above major flood stage, resulting in flooding that will last for weeks to come in parts of South Carolina. Cities and towns on its northern coast are experiencing the worst of it, where standing water remains in buildings along the Intracoastal Waterway and near riverbanks deep into theย Carolinas.
Flooded mobile home in Bucksport, Southย Carolina.
Pine Grove Baptist Church in Brittons Neck, Southย Carolina.
Jane and Chris Ochsenbein, owners of Gator Bait Adventure Toursย in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, took me on aย kayakย tour ofย flooded areas 10 days after the storm hit theย coast.
On September 26, we met up with April OโLeary, a program officer for Winyah Rivers Foundation and the Waccamawย Riverkeeperย program, in Conway, a city about 15 miles from South Carolinaโsย coast.
Chris Ochsenbein pulling a kayak into floodwater in Conway, South Carolinaโs Sherwoodย neighborhood.
April OโLeary, in front of her flooded home in Conway, South Carolina, on Septemberย 26.
Weย paddledย our way to her home in Conwayโs Sherwood neighborhood the day that theย Waccamawย River crested, reaching 21.16 feet, 7 feet over majorย flood stage. OโLeary later told me that level set a new record by more than three feet. The previous record, 17.89 feet, was set following Hurricane Matthew just two yearsย earlier.
Theย streets wereย quiet.ย Everyone had evacuated beforeย the flooding became too dangerous,ย as far as OโLeary knows.ย The only people we crossed paths with were checking their homes like sheย was.
Flooded home in Conway, Southย Carolina.
Lion sculpture in front of a flooded home in Conway, Southย Carolina.
I first met OโLeary and the Ochsenbeins in 2016 after Hurricane Matthewโs floodwaters affected areas along the Waccamaw River and Intracoastal Waterway, but that storm didnโt come close to flooding OโLearyโs home. With Florence, however, she finds herself in a newย dualย role: explaining to the media the environmental issues thatย affect theย Winyah rivers basin, andย dealing with being a flood victimย herself.ย
The day before I caught up withย OโLeary, she was featured on a local news program as she rescued monarch butterflies from her home in laundry baskets. She plans to care for them, and then release them in a nearby flood-freeย area where there are plenty ofย flowers.
The Ochsenbeins described living through Florenceโs aftermath as being in the middle of a slow-motion disaster. Their home is on high ground in Socastee, just west of Myrtle Beach, and didnโt flood. But many of their friends’ and neighbors’ homes did. They have been posting videosย of the areaย on Facebook while monitoring the floodwaters and helping others by lendingย them kayaksย to reach their homes and assess theย damage.
Fire ants on a post in Florenceโsย floodwaters.
Spiders on a house just above the flood line in Socastee, Southย Carolina.
โ[President] Trump visited Conway while embankments and aqua dams were frantically being installed to shore up the coal ash ponds that were the biggest threat to our community,โ Jane Ochsenbein told me. It bothered her that Trump didnโt acknowledge theย coal industryโsย threat to the area, and only a few days after, he went to Wheeling, West Virginia (her husband Chrisโs hometown), to promote coal andย push for theย rollbackย ofย regulations there.ย
โIt’s a hopeless feeling when your public officials deny science and the extensive costs that go along with that denial,โย Jane said. โFailing to deal with climate change is already costing lives.โ She is disheartened by having a president whoย promotesย fossil fuels, and local officials who continue to ignore flood maps while allowing new developments in wetlands.ย โFailing to plan is going to cost more lives and property,โ she said. โWe have to do better, from regulating industries to eliminate their waste and disposingย ofย itย properly, to stopping developmentsย inย high-risk floodย areas.โ
The Ochsenbeins see the writing on the wall. Three times in the last four years they have had to close their business for extended periods of time due to historic flooding. Though they love the area where they have lived and built their company over the last 20 years, they are considering relocating to higher ground.ย
โWe might move to the mountains near Asheville,โ Jane said. I asked about the massive fires there last year. โNoย placeย is safe from climate change, but the risk of fire in the mountains is not as bad as whatย weย are dealing with now.โ
The Trump administration recently acknowledged that temperatures will indeed continue to rise with increased greenhouse gas emissions. In its latest environmental impact assessment justifying Trumpโs proposed pause to vehicle fuel efficiency standards, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) predicted that by 2100 the planet is on track to warm by 7 degrees Fahrenheit. Climate scientists have warned that temperature change would beย catastrophic.
Instead of outright denying climate change, this draft statement accepts it as a given that canโt be stopped. The NHTSA document says that Obamaโs earlier plan to improve fuel efficiency for cars and light trucks built after 2020 would not make a significant dent in global emissions and therefore in projected warming.ย
Michael MacCracken, a former senior scientist at the U.S. Global Change Research Program for almost a decade, told the Washington Post:ย โThe amazing thing is that theyโre saying human activities are going to lead to this rise of carbon dioxide that is disastrous for the environment and society. And then theyโre saying theyโre not going to do anything aboutย it.โ
Trinity United Methodist Church, in Conway, South Carolina, in floodwaters. President Trump visited the church before Conwayโs Sherwood neighborhoodย flooded.
April OโLeary had a chance to meet President Trump when he visited Conway the week before the floodwaters arrived in the city. Her husband Patrick OโLeary, an airport deputy fire chief, ledย Trump on a tour of the same neighborhood we kayaked through. However, April doesnโt support Trumpโs environmental policies andย choseย to stay away.ย
โConsoling communities by ignoring the impacts of climate change ensures these complex issues will never be resolved,โ OโLeary told me. โItโs our responsibility to future generations to reconcile with the evidence and truth. The greatest threat to our rivers, water resources, and clean drinking water is thinking that itโs someone elseโs problem.โ
When we were done kayaking in the Sherwood neighborhood, we wiped ourselves downย with antibacterial cleanser to prevent infections from possible inadvertent contact with the floodwater. Shortly after,ย we found out that millions of gallonsย ofย raw wastewater from a Conway sewage plant were released into the Waccamaw River earlier thatย day.
Jane (right) and Chris Ochsenbein in polluted floodwater in Bucksport, Southย Carolina.
Spills like that are why the Ochsenbeins are keeping their business closed for now. Though there are no set pollution standards that regulate their tour guide operations to keep them or anyoneย elseย from using the areaโs waterway, they donโt plan to start up their business again until theย waterโsย bacteria levels are safe. Florenceโs floodwaters have been contaminated by a range of hazardous and unhealthy materials common after floods:ย untreated sewage, oil and gas from flooded cars, and the added danger of waste from industrial hog and poultryย farms.
On the bright side, the Ochsenbeins likely donโt have to worry about coal ash in the floodwaters around them since the nearby Granger storage pond wasnโt breached. North Carolina, however, wasnโt so lucky. Theย bulkย of the coal ash from breached ponds there were washed into the Cape Fearย watershed, just north of the Winyahย Bayย basin.
Main image: April OโLeary kayaking to her home in Conway, South Carolina. Credit: All photos by Julie Dermansky forย DeSmog
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