Storm Surge/Tide — Coastal Horry, South Carolina

2022-09-30 · Coastal Horry, South Carolina

Event narrative

Ian created significant storm surge, especially along the beach front and adjacent waterways of Horry County, when the storm's peak surge was nearly coincident with high tide on September 30, 2022. The surge breached the dunes and flooded parking lots and streets in Garden City with 4 to 6 feet of flowing water. The surge damaged several cars, dozens of rooms and storage buildings setup under the first floor. Ian's surge completely removed sand dunes from the beaches in Garden City. Storm surge entered a large amusement park in Myrtle Beach and damaged Apache and Second Avenue piers. Cherry Grove was also hit hard with Ian's surge, but mainly to hundreds of homes on the backside of the island. However, on the ocean front side Cherry Grove Pier suffered major damage with a section of the pier lost to large waves. Overall, the surge inundation averaged 3 to 6 feet across many of the beach and tidal areas in Horry county.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Ian made landfall along the west coast of Florida on September 28, 2022, then moved across the Florida peninsula and exited off the east coast of Florida on September 29, 2022. Ian then moved north and made a second landfall near Georgetown, SC on September 30, 2022. Ian resulted in a variety of impacts across northeast South Carolina from tropical storm force winds to flash flooding, and storm surge.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1056475. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.