Jun 18 2025

Living in Myrtle Beach: Hurricane Prep Guide

living in myrtle beach during a hurricane

Hurricane Season in Myrtle Beach: How to Be Prepared

Living in Myrtle Beach means enjoying ocean breezes, world-class beaches, and a relaxed coastal lifestyle. But if you call this slice of paradise home, it’s important to understand what comes with it—including hurricane season. From June 1 to November 30 each year, residents must stay alert, informed, and prepared to protect their homes, families, and peace of mind.

Whether you’re new to the Grand Strand or a long-time homeowner, this guide will walk you through exactly how to prepare for hurricane season while enjoying the benefits of living in Myrtle Beach.

How to Prepare for Hurricane Season in Myrtle Beach

Step 1: Create a Hurricane Preparedness Plan

Start with the basics: determine your Horry County evacuation zone (A, B, or C). Authorities will issue zone-based evacuation orders depending on storm strength. Know your zone in advance, map out your evacuation route, and have a destination ready if you need to leave quickly. If you have pets, make arrangements for pet-friendly accommodations early, as most emergency shelters do not allow animals.

Step 2: Assemble a Complete Emergency Kit

Every home in Myrtle Beach should have a stocked emergency kit ready before a storm is even on the radar. Your kit should include:

Three days’ worth of non-perishable food and two gallons of water per person, per day
Flashlights, batteries, a battery-operated radio, and phone chargers
First-aid kit, prescription medications, and hygiene items
Cash, important documents in waterproof containers, and clothing

boarding your myrtle beach home for hurricane

Step 3: Secure Your Home and Property

Protecting your home from high winds and flooding is crucial. Trim trees, clean gutters, and secure or store outdoor furniture and decorations. Install storm shutters or board up windows with plywood if a storm is approaching. Check the roof for loose shingles and secure entry points, especially garage doors, to reduce wind intrusion.

Step 4: Review Your Insurance Coverage

If you’re living in Myrtle Beach full-time, understanding your home insurance is a must. Standard policies typically don’t include flood coverage. Look into a separate flood insurance policy and make sure your coverage limits reflect current property values. Take photos or videos of your home’s interior and exterior in advance for claims documentation.

Step 5: Know When to Evacuate

When evacuation orders are issued, don’t wait. Leave early to avoid traffic and worsening weather conditions. Fuel up your vehicle in advance, and have a go-bag ready. If you’re not required to evacuate and choose to shelter in place, stay indoors, monitor local news, and avoid driving through flooded roads.

Step 6: Stay Safe After the Storm

After the storm has passed, proceed with care. Watch for downed power lines, broken glass, and flood-contaminated water. Wear protective gloves and boots when cleaning debris. Take photos of any damage before beginning repairs, and work only with licensed contractors to avoid scams.

Living in Myrtle Beach Means Being Prepared

Part of living in Myrtle Beach is learning how to balance paradise with preparedness. While hurricanes aren’t guaranteed each season, being ready gives you confidence and peace of mind. A little planning now will protect your property, your family, and your lifestyle on the coast.

Final Thoughts

Hurricane season is simply a part of coastal living, and with the right steps in place, you can continue enjoying everything Myrtle Beach has to offer without worry. Make your preparations early, review your plan regularly, and stay connected to local alerts and weather forecasts.

If you’re relocating or considering a move, our team at Myrtle Beach Homes Blog is here to help you find a safe, beautiful home that fits your lifestyle and your long-term plans for coastal living.

Thinking of making a move to Myrtle Beach in the near future? Book a Call with Jeremy to discuss your upcoming move to Myrtle Beach!

Jul 28 2014

Preparing To Move Into Your Myrtle Beach Home One Month In Advance

A lot of people stress when it comes time to move into your new Myrtle Beach Home. Most people only move a few times during a lifetime, so they are not always aware of all the things they need to do when moving.

To help lower the amount of stress, here is a brief checklist of items to do one month before closing on your new Myrtle Beach property. In the next few weeks there will be follow up articles with checklists of items to do at 2 weeks before moving, day before the move, day of move-out, day of move-in, & after you are settled.

Clean out closets, attic, basement, etc… Take this time to start going through things and discarding things you don’t want anymore or have no need for. For example, if you currently live in a cold weather climate, you can take that snow blower and place it for sale on Craigslist. Our warmer temperatures in Myrtle Beach leave zero need for it. Also, you can reduce down your winter clothing collection greatly. Sell those items off and start your new boat fund.
Consider having a garage sale. What to do with all that unwanted stuff? Have a garage sale and sell the things you dont need anymore. Maybe you are downsizing when you move and will not have the need for the extra furniture. Host a garage sale or two and put some extra money in your pocket.
Donate unwanted items. Some things may not sell at a yard sale. Those items that are of any worth you can donate to the local goodwill, library, or thrift shops. You can get a receipt for tax purposes.
Register children for school. If you are moving to another school district, take this time to get children registered for their new school. As moving day approaches, you won’t have time available and may forget this.Many of the Horry County Schools have information on their website.
Start opening new bank accounts. If you are moving to an area where your bank does not service, you will need to find a new bank. Most banks now have the option to apply online and can be done from your current residence. Not having a local bank can cause issues with extra fees to try and do basic banking functions.
Contact your veterinarian. Check with your vet for travel preparation for your pets. Also, see if they have a recommendation for you to transfer to here in Myrtle Beach.
Notify post office. Contact the post office along with any other publications of your change of address and the date it will become effective. This can now be done online by clicking here.
Contact lawn service, security company, & other regular services. Let these services know in advance of your vacating date so that they can discontinue service at that time and not charge you extra. Nobody likes to waste money. If you are just moving across town in Myrtle Beach, some of these services will just need to be transferred.
Use your frozen foods. It is very difficult to travel with frozen foods. They can be very heavy and there is not really any safe way of traveling with them. Also, once you arrive at your new home, if you are bringing the refrigerator with, it could take up to 24 hours until it is cold enough to freeze items again which will result in major spoilage of foods.

So these are just a few great tips to help you prepare for the big day of moving into your new Myrtle Beach home. Are there any other tips you can think of? Share in the comments below.

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Jun 24 2014

The Importance Of Online Marketing To Selling a Myrtle Beach Home

It’s no secret that selling your Myrtle Beach home can be a difficult task to do on your own. With all the new regulations on financing, and laws in place. With that being said, selecting the right real estate agent to sell your home is imperative. One of the most effective parts of selling a home is how the property is being marketed on the internet. Below is a list of items that are helping to sell homes. If you are thinking of selling your home, you may want to print this out to ask the real estate agent if your home will be marketed in these places.

Real Estate Website– Does the agent have an effective website that is drawing in buyers? Recent statistics show over 85% of all buyers begin their real estate search on the internet before even contacting an agent. Also ask the agent if they have their own domain name website instead of just the website provided by the company. For my team we have MyrtleBeachHomesBlog.com plus our local company, RE/MAX Southern Shores website. In addition, we have exposure the RE/MAX national site.
Real Estate 2.0- Social Networks & other websites are rapidly gaining in popularity. Buyers are using sites like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google+, LinkedIn & Twitter to find out the information about a community, the agent, and the surrounding areas before making contact with a real estate agent. Our use of social media helps expose our listings to our connections on Social Media which is now over 37,000!
Real Estate Blog– Buyers who begin their online searches are finding blogs each and every day with the information they are interested in. On average, consumers read over 27 blog posts every week. They are going to major search engines entering the keywords for information they want. If you have shared content related to the terms the consumer is searching, you have the potential to be found and gain their business.

Remember these three areas of effective marketing in the current real estate market. Unfortunately, just like many things in life, what is effective at one time may not work anymore now. You need an agent that stays on top of the market and keeps track of what is and is not working in selling homes.

An article I read in our local paper a while back confirmed that our marketing efforts are targeted in the right direction. The article shared about how the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce is focusing over 60% of their advertising towards internet marketing. 23.2% towards tv, 7% for newspapers, 5% on magazines 3% on radio & 1.8% on billboards. Just as the chamber has come to realize, in order to be effective with marketing the focus needs to be on internet advertising!

So in closing, when you are deciding on an agent to sell your Myrtle Beach Home, make sure that they have a strong online presence to help take your Myrtle Beach Home from listed to sold by giving your home it’s greatest exposure online.

photo by:

bsabarnowl

Aug 23 2011

5 Things You Should NEVER Ask Your REALTOR®!

Over the past 13 years of selling real estate in Myrtle Beach, I have experienced all types of situations and questions from clients. Unfortunately, because of the Fair Housing Act there are certain questions that as a Real Estate Agent, I am not allowed to answer.

Here are just of the few questions I have been asked in the past. These are questions you should never ask your REALTOR®:

Are there a bunch of kids in the neighborhood? I don’t want a bunch of children living around me! One of the classes covered under the Fair Housing Act is age. If the age of your neighbors is an issue to you, I always suggest driving through the neighborhood and look for clues to make your own conclusion. Look for basketball hoops, trampolines, swing sets and children on bicycles.
Are there a bunch of (enter a particular race) living here? Another protected class under the Fair Housing Act is race. As a REALTOR® we cannot discriminate against race. Surprisingly though, we are asked this question probably more than any other question.
Is this home located in a ghetto? This is the actual question that sparked me to write this post. First, I do not know what you would consider a ghetto. Secondly, even if I knew what was considered a ghetto, I would not be able to disclose that information. If someone who asked this was referring to the safety of a neighborhood, I cannot discuss that either. I would instead refer the client to the local police department who can share about the safety of the neighborhood.
Are there a bunch of (enter any religion) living here? Just like race and age, we cannot discriminate against religion either.
It seems there are some disabled people living next door, will that affect my property? Disabled people are also part of a protected class. I cannot comment, positive or negative about disabled people either.

While there are many other wild and crazy questions I receive daily, these are just 5 of the more regular questions I am asked that I cannot answer that relate to buying a home here in Myrtle Beach. So, while you may want answers to questions like these, use some of the suggestions I mentioned to find your answers instead of your real estate agent.

photo by:

tj scenes

Jun 05 2008

Is Your Home Not Selling? Time to Address “The Pink Toilet Effect” in Your Home!

It is no news to anyone that selling real estate has drastically changed over the past several years. During 2004-2006 we experienced a very strong sellers market where you would just list your home for sale and wait for multiple offers to flood in within the first week. In many occasions, these multiple offers would result in higher than listing price offers being made by buyers.

The seller had no need to do any renovations to the home. Well with the market swinging to a strong buyers market, now a seller must look at their property and do whatever possible to make their property appealing to prospective buyers. The simple fixes of de-cluttering rooms and a fresh coat of paint are not enough anymore.

The two rooms to start your updating in any home are the bathrooms and kitchen. It is time to remove the dated pink toilet that was installed in the early 1980’s and replace with an upgraded new one. Also, upgrade the faucets, flooring, counters. Another thing buyers are looking for are upgrades in appliances. Whenever you do these types of renovations remain neutral in all selections. Sometimes the little bit of extra money spent to upgrade to the granite counters or stainless appliances can be the difference between a home for sale and SOLD home.