With drainage ditches flowing like rivers and busy roadways needing to be forded in the Bluffton community of Alljoy an unusual sign, even for the Lowcountry, was nailed to a telephone poll Monday morning reading “no wake.” It was there to remind boaters (and vehicle drivers) passing through the flooded streets to keep their speed down to avoid pushing the collected water further onto porches and into homes.
As Beaufort County residents lined up Monday for sandbags needed to protect their homes from impending flooding during Tropical Storm Debby, one Bluffton area community didn’t even bother, knowing the heavy rain would quickly wash over any efforts to repel it.
Debby is projected to dump as much as 30 inches of rainfall to the county as it moves northeast along a slow path. For residents of the Alljoy neighborhood, that’s not the news they were hoping to get. This area, sitting southwest of the Tangier Outlet stores and east of Myrtle Island and Buck Point, is regularly inundated with overflowing storm drains and septic tanks anytime it rains in their community adjacent to the May River.
“When we get an inch of rain, it’s bad for us,” said community member Laura Wilson.
“This is barely just the beginning of a little rainstorm,” another community member Mia Hughey said about Monday’s rainfall. “So trying to get anywhere is going to be really difficult. It’s going to be impossible.”
“My concern is everything’s going to be underwater. Should we just leave?” she asked.
But it’s not just the water that’s concerning for Alljoy homeowners. It’s what the water carries. When Alljoy is flooded and water saturates the community’s septic tanks, waste seeps into the water and can enter people’s homes or flow into the May River.
“We’re not going to be able to use our toilets. Septic’s going to back up into our homes. That’s my biggest issue,” Hughey said.
It’s hard to be proactive
Another Alljoy resident, John Trimmer, has a home in one of the lower areas of the community. He’s lived there since the 80s. He said he expects his week to consist of lots of bleach and mopping to counter mold in the areas of his home that flood. During Hurricane Irma, he had water up to his knees in the downstairs of his home.
He’d try to prep and mitigate the flooding but isn’t sure he’d be able to make a difference.
“My house is 40 by 30. That’s 140 feet of sandbags, that’s inconceivable for me to be able to do,” he said. “I’ve got my river boots, a mop and a bucket and I’m ready to go. It’s the only thing I can do.”
Trimmer said he doesn’t plan on leaving, only saying he’d “evacuate” as far as his friend’s house on nearby Burnt Church Road.
“I’m not going to take that chance on not being able to get back here and take care of (my home),” he said.
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