MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) Ten years ago today, Hurricane Matthew struck the Carolina coast, leaving behind a destructive legacy defined not just by battered oceanfront piers, but by catastrophic, record-setting inland flooding that permanently reshaped how communities prepare for tropical storms.
Matthew officially made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane at 11 a.m. on Oct. 8, 2016, near McClellanville, South Carolina—becoming the first October hurricane to make landfall north of Florida since Hurricane Hazel in 1954. While coastal gusts topped 70 to 80 mph, the storm’s deadliest weapon was water. Saturated ground from prior tropical systems combined with 12 to 18 inches of torrential rainfall, turning neighborhood creeks and major river basins across the Grand Strand and Pee Dee into historic torrents.
Across North and South Carolina, the storm was directly blamed for 29 deaths—28 of them caused by flooding—and more than $10 billion in damage across the United States.
COASTAL IMPACTS: THE DAY THE PIERS FELL
As Matthew skirted northeast along the South Carolina coastline, storm surge running 3 to 5 feet above normal astronomical high tides inundated low-lying coastal areas.
In Myrtle Beach, massive breaking waves tore away most of Springmaid Pier, including the NOAA weather station anchored to the end of the structure. Weather data abruptly ceased between 12:18 p.m. and 12:24 p.m. that morning, marking the moment the historic landmark collapsed into the Atlantic. Just to the south, Surfside Pier lost roughly half of its 689-foot deck, and Garden City Pier sustained heavy structural damage.
Early on the morning of landfall, an EF-0 tornado also touched down in North Myrtle Beach, carving a 1.5-mile path with estimated 85 mph winds that snapped trees and damaged area properties.
INLAND FLASH FLOODING: DEADLY RUNOFF IN THE PEE DEE
While coastal communities endured punishing surf, rainfall rates inland escalated to 1 to 2 inches per hour over ground already soaked by Tropical Storm Hermine weeks earlier.
In Florence County, more than 12.77 inches of rain fell, triggering rapid, life-threatening flash flooding early on the morning of Oct. 8. The torrential runoff submerged major thoroughfares and led to tragedy when two people drowned after their vehicle was swept into floodwaters. In neighboring Marion County, another man died when rising water trapped him inside his home…