Here are places in the Myrtle Beach area most likely to flood if a hurricane hits in 2023

The 2023 hurricane season starts on Thursday, which means Myrtle Beach-area residents might be thinking about how a storm could affect their homes. But your risk for flooding depends on where you live.

Horry and Georgetown counties are prone to flooding because of the double whammy of being close to the ocean and packed with rivers and wetlands.

These are the Horry and Georgetown county places most likely to flood. The locations are taken from the zip codes with the highest average current cost of flood insurance, according to FEMA data.

Zip code 29585: Pawleys Island and Litchfield by the Sea

Homeowners in this area pay an average $1,216 a year for insurance to protect against inland flooding. In October 2022, a portion of Pawleys Island pier washed into sea. That month, Gov. Henry McMaster’s office described the damage on Pawleys Island in a letter to the White House.

“A National Weather Service post-storm survey on Pawleys Island found mud lines more than 4 feet high (above ground level) along Doyle Avenue, almost 3 feet high on Hazard Street, and more than 2 feet high on southern portions of Springs Avenue,” the letter states.

Zip code 29576: Murrells Inlet

FEMA data said it costs Murrells Inlet residents an average of $1,023 annually for insurance in case the salt marsh and Waccamaw River get waterlogged. Due to damage from Hurricane Ian, the goats on Goat Island near the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk did not return in 2023.

Zip code 29582: North Myrtle Beach

With flood insurance costing $909 a year, North Myrtle Beach residents see low lying areas flooding, even during heavy rain storms. The Cherry Grove community felt the brunt of Hurricane Ian’s storm surges in 2022, damaging the Cherry Grove pier and washing out sand dunes.

In 2020, Hurricane Isaias smashed into North Myrtle Beach and caused $2.4 million-worth of damages along with dune damage to Cherry Grove and other parts of the city.