An Unbelievable Flood

What a day!

Although all of us in the Myrtle Beach area had braced for heavy rain, the byproduct of Hurricane Joaquin, I don’t think we expected this. Big time flooding impacted the Grand Strand today and it has thrown a wrench into the upcoming work week.

Little did we know how crazy things were about to get (NOTE: That is a street behind me).

Little did we know how crazy things were about to get (NOTE: That is a street behind me).

Sidney and I knew the storm had really arrived this morning. We arrived at church and got soaked by something other than holy water as we made the short walk from my car to St. Andrew Parish. By the time the service had ended, sheets of rain were violently coming down. We made it to my car completely drenched and made the challenging drive back to Sid’s house. We ran inside and ate brunch. After watching maybe 20 minutes of TV, Sidney looked outside and yelled at me to come join her.

Her home street, located in a very nice residential area, was completely flooded. It was as if the pavement had been magically replaced by a river. A short time after this discovery, Sidney got notice that Horry County Schools, the district she works in, had canceled classes for tomorrow. With Horry County making this move, I knew our Coastal Carolina University social media channels would be blowing up with inquiries on whether our campus would shut down.

One second there was pavement, the next second there was water. This is the street right off of Sidney's house.

One second there was pavement, the next second there was water. This is the street right off of Sidney’s house.

Shutting down a university is a much more complex process than most people realize. For the next couple hours I kept our CCU audience updated on smaller campus developments (shuttle stoppages, safety tips) until the big decision to cancel classes was made. When the call to pull the plug on tomorrow was official, I was able to get word out on what everyone really wanted to know.

But back to the scene in our neighborhood. The body of water on our street had receded so Sidney took a chance going over to her parents’ house as they live close by. She took my car while I stayed at her place to work on the CCU developments. She didn’t get far. As soon as she turned off her street she encountered gigantic pools of water in the middle of the roadway. There was no way she was getting anywhere in my Toyota Solara.

Driving in this is stressful and dangerous. This was when Sid and I drove over to her parents' house.

Driving in this is stressful and dangerous. This was when Sid and I drove over to her parents’ house.

She came back to the house and after about 30 minutes we got in her RAV4 and took a very scenic drive to get to her parents. Even though we bypassed a lot of the insane water, we still gritted our teeth as we went through huge pools and said a prayer as we went by neighborhoods that were completely flooded. After eating a fantastic roast meal cooked by her mom, we ventured back out in the “ocean.” While on the voyage back we encountered a scene so wild that we had to pull over the vehicle and get out. At the entrance to a flooded neighborhood was a jet ski maneuvering through the waters. It was saving possessions and people from flooded houses.

In the distance you can see the jet ski going out to save people and possessions.

In the distance you can see the jet ski going out to save people and possessions.

We got back home and rested for a few minutes as Sid made cupcakes and I continued to work. After getting caught up, we decided to do exactly what Governor Haley said not to do…go exploring!!

I took this low quality photo as we passed one of those washed out neighborhoods on the way to Sid's parents' house.

I took this low quality photo as we passed one of those washed out neighborhoods on the way to Sid’s parents’ house.

On foot we left Sidney’s house and started walking around the neighborhoods. Wearing grubby clothes and shoes we walked down the river, um, I mean the streets, as we took the whole spectacle in. The water reached well above our knees as it took effort to walk as the established current ripped opposite of us.

This is me in the water during the expedition that Sid and I took.

This is me in the water during the expedition that Sid and I took. It would get much deeper than this.

We walked by the unfortunate houses that were prone to flooding. Everyone was out in front of their homes putting bricks or sand bags in front of their garages to prevent too much water from seeping in. A family had an inflatable that their toddler was floating on. I talked to one of my media aquaintances who was interviewing folks. A couple kayaks floated by. Emergency vehicles were stacked up at the end of one of the streets.

People were literally floating by in kayaks.

People were literally floating by in kayaks.

I did a Periscope broadcast of the madness and at one time over 180 people were on it. They could not believe the scene I was showing them. Questions, well-wishes, and a whole bunch of hearts dominated the time I was live. Sidney and I shook our heads in disbelief at cars that attempted to bulldoze through the flood waters.

Sidney hanging out in the water.

Sidney hanging out in the water.

We turned back and came home. Words can’t describe how thankful we are that Sidney’s house nor her parents’ house has been susceptible to this nasty storm. As night has fallen, we are now shut-ins. We plan to relax and just be safe. Although I thought today was going to be my first day off in two weeks, I feel #CCUSocialMedia crushed it when it came to notifying our audience, especially legions of terrified parents, about what was going on at Coastal Carolina University. Thank you all for your support and be sure to watch the Weather Channel for live reports on what is going on in our neck of the woods. Stay dry. Don’t Blink.

My Own Turf, Facebook Popularity, Hurricane Joaquin, Homecoming, Gatorade

Welcome back to Don’t Blink. It is time for your weekly quick read as I write about five random topics. Here is your latest Thursday Rundown…

Awesome Season Ticket Promotion – The athletic ticket office at Coastal Carolina University is always thinking up fun, yet strategic, promotions. The gift given to football season ticket holders this year is pretty cool. Capitalizing on the popularity of our teal turf, the athletic department took the excess pieces of the surface and distributed them to those fans who purchased season seats. Presenting them in a classy Chanticleer wooden box, it was an incredible idea. Since I am a season ticket holder I received my own piece of the teal turf and I currently have it displayed in my office.

I love my own little piece of our teal turf!

I love my own little piece of our teal turf!

CCU’s Own Celebrity…Robin Russell – This week we returned to the studio to shoot our first two shows of the season for “Coastal Now”, our university news/features program. I am honored to have my own social media segment on the show (called the “Social Circle”) and because of that, I have the privilege of sharing the stage with our host and CCU theatre professor Robin Russell. After the show I asked her to take a photo with me on the set. She kindly obliged and I quickly posted it to Facebook. Immediately the “likes” started rolling in and they kept coming the rest of the day. By 8 p.m. the image had garnered 130 likes. As of right now, the photo has 158 likes. Besides the photo of me proposing to Sidney, I don’t know the last time I personally received so much social media love. Of course the reason for the attention was Robin. I tagged her in the photo and about 90% of the likes come from her Facebook friends. I plan to take more photos with her in the future.

Thanks to Robin, this Facebook post received 159 likes.

Thanks to Robin, this Facebook post received 158 likes.

Hurricane Joaquin – Myrtle Beach is supposed to be impacted by Hurricane Joaquin! The next three days call for a 100% chance of rain and heavy winds. Rain accumulations are supposed to get anywhere between 5 to 7 inches! While some might think October is late for something like this, the truth is that hurricane season runs until November 30. Not too long after I moved here, Hurricane Arthur threatened our area but never did much harm. Time to see what Joaquin has in store.

Homecoming Week – For the sake of a decent Homecoming Weekend, let’s hope Hurricane Joaquin doesn’t wreak too much havoc. Yes, Homecoming at CCU is here and so far the festivities have gone without a hitch. The Miss Coastal Pageant, ChantFest, and other prior activities ushered this week off to a great start. Tonight is the student talent show which is inside. However, come tomorrow, things could get wet. Over the course of the next two days we will unveil a major landmark on campus, hold a bonfire, offer the fiercest tailgating of the season, and of course play a football game. Lots of people are crossing their fingers right now.

It is Homecoming Week at Coastal Carolina University.

It is Homecoming Week at Coastal Carolina University.

Gatorade – The most popular sport drink on the planet, Gatorade, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. I was delighted by this Darren Rovell article chronicling five items we should all know about the drink. Back in the day when I would drink a lot of Gatorade, orange was always my favorite flavor. My second favorite flavor was a strawberry melon concoction they made for a limited time. I drank a bottle of it before each football game my senior year of high school. When I think about that flavor I can still taste it. The taste immediately transports me back to our fieldhouse where I would drink it as we went through our pregame meeting. My best Gatorade memory comes from the summer of either 2002 or 2003. My brother and I collected every 32 ounce bottle we drank for several months and then made a sculpture with them on our backyard deck. We took photos and sent them to Gatorade. I wish I had the images available.

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If you are out here on the east coast, stay safe. To my friends and family out west, I hope you have a fun and sunny weekend. If I am dry and still have a roof over my head on Sunday, I will catch up with all of you then. Don’t Blink.