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Getting back to Myrtle Beach

The SC DOT has the following information about travel and expected flooding due to Hurricane Florence... The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), the SC National Guard, the SC Emergency Management Division, the SC Department of Corrections, the SC Department of Natural Resources, the US Army Corps of Engineers and Horry County are working collectively to implement a plan to combat major flooding in Horry County.

This plan is based on flood modeling and anticipated rainfall amounts in the Pee Dee. Bridges on major routes into the county are expected to be overtopped by rain-swollen rivers sometime Monday night or Tuesday. Team members have determined that US 378 will likely be the only available route to provide access into Horry County. Additionally, the US 501 Bypass is planned to serve as the only route crossing the Waccamaw River that leads into the Myrtle Beach area.

In order to maintain at least one highway access point into Horry County, Team SC plans to construct two temporary flood control devices in order to keep the flood waters off the highway low points. The plan is to construct two temporary flood barriers:

• US 378 - A one-mile barrier on the Lynches River in Florence County
• A 1.5 mile barrier on US 501 Bypass In Conway.

Motorists should expect delays and alternative traffic patterns In the vicinity of these two work zones. The construction of these barriers is expected to be complete by Monday evening. SCDOT has cleared all roads of trees and debris in the counties affected by the storm except for a few locations involving downed power lines. However, SCDOT urges drivers to continue to use extreme caution on the roads and obey the reduced speed limits when driving through work zones, particularly at these work sites on US 378.

SCDOT and our Team members continue to analyze actual rainfall data to address problems as needed including these locations:

• US 701 - At the convergence of the Little Pee Dee and Great Pee Dee Rivers.
• US 17 at the bridge in Downtown Georgetown.
• The analysis of a number of locations on I-95 continues.

SCDOT urges all motorists to drive with extreme caution during and after this storm. More overall storm news can be found at these links: https://www.scdot.org/ and https://www.scemd.org/.