North Myrtle Beach Paving Improvements Begin Monday, October 17 on Selected Roads

The City has an existing paving contract with Palmetto Paving for paving improvements on the following streets:

·       Nixon Street from 20^th Avenue North to 34^th Avenue North

·       31^st Avenue North from Nixon Street to the marsh

·       Lake Drive from 39^th Avenue North to 53^rd Avenue North

·       52^nd Avenue North

·       53^rd Avenue North

·       59^th Avenue North

The paving is scheduled to begin Monday October 17 and must be completed by the end of November to meet SCDOT pavement restrictions.

Prior to Monday, the City will clear ALL debris along the rights-of-way of the streets to be paved in an effort to preserve the new pavement from being damaged by the large trucks that will soon be used for debris removal under the federal disaster declaration.

Guidelines on Placing Debris at Curbside in North Myrtle Beach

Following FEMA regulations, the City of North Myrtle Beach is in the final stages of hiring a debris monitoring contractor and a debris collection contractor. The former will monitor the latter as it picks up hurricane related debris in North Myrtle Beach.

The process entails a slight pickup delay, but the general result is that FEMA may absorb about 85% of debris collection costs that occur within the first 30 days following the start of the hurricane event (the October 4 evacuation order). The city pays the remaining costs.

We will soon put out the collection schedule.

In the meantime, please see the attached graphics provided by the firm that will be collecting debris in North Myrtle Beach. They show how and where to place debris.

North Myrtle Beach EOC Public Phone Line To Be Disconnected at 5 PM October 13

City of North Myrtle Beach

The North Myrtle Beach Emergency Operations Center public phone Line (843-281-3705) will be disconnected at 5:00 p.m. October 13.

After 5:00 p.m., people may call the regular Public Safety dispatch phone at 843-280-5511 for non-emergencies.

Call 9-1-1 for emergencies.

U.S. Small Business Administration Announces Disaster Declaration for Horry County

The U.S. Small Business Administration has added more counties to the disaster declaration in North and South Carolina affected by Hurricane Matthew that began on Oct. 4, 2016.

The disaster declaration now covers the counties of Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Edgecombe, Hoke,Johnston, Lenoir, Nash, Pitt, Robeson, Wayne and Wilson in North Carolina, which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA.  Small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations in the following adjacent counties are eligible to apply only for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans: Brunswick, Chowan, Craven, Duplin, Franklin, Greene, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hyde, Jones, Martin, Moore, Northampton, Pamlico, Pender, Richmond, Sampson, Scotland, Wake, Warren, and Washington in North Carolina; Dillon, Horry and  Marlboro in South Carolina.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via the SBA's secure website.

To be considered for all forms of disaster assistance, applicants should register online at DisasterAssistance.gov or by mobile device at m.fema.gov.  If online or mobile access is unavailable, applicants should call the FEMA toll-free helpline at 800-621-3362. Those who use 711-Relay or Video Relay Services should call 800-621-3362.

Additional details on the locations of Disaster Recovery Centers and the loan application process can be obtained by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or by sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. 

Cherry Grove Dredging Project Update

City of North Myrtle Beach, October 12, 2016, 12:05 P.M.

Although interrupted by Hurricane Matthew, work on the Cherry Grove Dredging Project has resumed. Orion Marine Group’s employees are back on site and are again working on putting together the pipeline.

Also, highway transport permits for hauling the two dredges that will be used in the project have been issued. On October 17, the company will begin transporting the dredges from Louisiana to North Myrtle Beach. They should arrive in North Myrtle Beach by the end of that week.

Weekend festivities throughout the Grand Strand to go on as scheduled

Despite ongoing Hurricane Matthew recovery operations, the Myrtle Beach Area is bouncing back and welcoming visitors. Mike Bettes of the Weather Channel said during a live broadcast from the Boardwalk yesterday, "It's sunny and beautiful and business as usual here in Myrtle Beach ... why not come on out!"

Great events taking place this week/weekend:

Pawleys Island Festival of Music & Art - Thursday, Oct. 13-Saturday, Oct. 15

Georgetown Boat Show - Friday, Oct. 14-Sunday, Oct. 16

Myrtle Beach Seafood Festival - Saturday, Oct. 15

See more Grand Strand events here.

"Myrtle Beach is back in business and it's going to be a great weekend," says Brad Dean, president and CEO of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. "Myrtle Beach is known for its resilience. Power crews have been working around the clock and have done such an amazing job that it's hard to imagine just a few days ago we were dealing with a huge storm, now we're welcoming back visitors. But it's not just about the visitors. We know a lot of people depend on tourism for their jobs and livelihoods, so getting our economy back up and running is good for everyone."

A Survey conducted by the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce showed that many businesses are open or well on their way to being open for business! For an updated list of business openings visit the chamber website.

What's the power situation in North Myrtle Beach?

City of North Myrtle Beach, October 12, 2016, 11:15 A.M.

That’s today’s trending question. The answer is: Getting better by the hour. We still have spotty outages, and four traffic lights are still out with locations on Main Street and Sea Mountain Highway.

About 38,000 customers in Santee Cooper's service location from the Town of Briarcliffe Acres, north to Little River originally lost power due to the hurricane, and about 2,300 customers are still without power as of this writing. So, Santee Cooper is working hard and effectively to get things back to normal.