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!

Mar 06 2018

3 Important Dates To Watch When Buying A Myrtle Beach Home

When you are buying a house or selling a home in Myrtle Beach, it’s really important that you pay attention to the dates that are written into the contract at three specific points. These are checkpoints throughout the contract time that you need to pay attention to and make sure you are on track for or it could cost you a lot of money or even the house.

Expiration of Offer

So the first date that is on a contract that is really important to look at is actually on the last page of the contract. Right there it talks about the offer that has been sent out how long that is good for. It is called the expiration of offer date. When someone submits an offer on a property, this is the amount of time the buyers are giving to the seller to either accept, reject, or submit a counter-offer back. The amount of time given by the buyer can be set to any amount of time. It could be 8-24 hours, 4 days, 8 days, or however long they thing is right.

If the property is a new listing that the buyers feel will not last long on the market, they will normally place a shorter time on the expiration of offer to try and get a response from the sellers before other offers come in. On the sellers side, if they feel they are getting a lot of traffic right off the bat on their new listing, and think they may receive multiple offers, they will many times counter back on the expiration asking the buyers to give them more time to make a decision, in hopes of another offer being submitted by another buyer.

It is crucial though for both parties to pay attention to the expiration of offers segment in the contract so that they do not allow an offer to expire without responding and losing the opportunity to either sell or purchase the home they are interested in. If the offer expires without it being excepted by both sides within the time period stated in the contract, you could definitely lose out on the home or selling it.

Conveyance/Closing/Possession

The second date that is really important to look at in an offer is the closing date. This is the date that is written into the contract that states on this date or within the certain period of time for the extension we are going to close and record on this property. If you are selling a property it is important because you want to know when am I going to get my money. If you are buying a property, it’s important to you as well because you want to know when can I take ownership of this new house and make it my own.

Now there is also going to be that extension put into the contract that is A number of days after a specified date in which the contract needs to close. This extension is put into offers as a failsafe in case there is a delay with the financing, an unforeseen weather occurrence, a medical emergency etc. The number of days for the extension is counted in business days in the state of South Carolina not just calendar days. If the property has not closed and recorded by the contract date and number of days in the extension, then both parties must agree to an extension on the contract to close at a later date.

Inspections

The third date that is really important to pay attention to when you are buying or selling a house is the inspection date. In the contract there is going to be date written in there that is going to say all inspections are going to be done by this time. Some contracts specify a actual day of the month, others simply say that all inspections must be completed within a certain number of days of contract acceptance.

As a buyer, it’s important to you that you get in touch with your home inspector and get that scheduled before that date goes past. Technically, if you do not complete all inspections within the specified time and the seller does not agree to it and extension period, you Have forfeited your rights to inspections.

If you are the seller, there is also a spot in that same section of the inspection part of the contract that talks about the date that once you receive the list of request of repairs that you have to figure out whether you are going to do them or not and respond back to the buyer during that time. If you do not respond during that time you are basically saying we are going to take it as is and handle all the things for you. As I have shared in the past, there are five main sections in the contract written that every home inspector is going to check in Myrtle Beach and what is covered in a contract as needing to be repaired to be placed back into good working condition.

So these are three main dates that when you are writing a contract you want to pay attention to when buying or selling a home in Myrtle Beach. If you have any questions related to this topic or anything else regarding buying or selling a home in Myrtle Beach, do not hesitate to contact me.

Feb 16 2016

Selling a Myrtle Beach Home- Unexpected Showings

So you have your home for sale in Myrtle Beach and your listing agent has just stuck the sign in the front yard. You have already painted all the walls & cleaned the house to perfection for the upcoming showings. But, what happens when someone shows up at the door wanting to see your home without an appointment. As crazy as this sounds, it is something that happens fairly often.

People are out driving the neighborhood and see a new sign in the yard. They quickly look up the property on their smartphone and the awesome photos your listing agent took make them have to see the property. They become so excited that this might be “the one” that they jump out of the car and rush to your door asking to view your home. When this happens, I would suggest you direct the person to contact your listing agent and not allow them access to the home. You never know if that person is legitimately interested in your home or if it someone who is going to rob you.

When you list your property, ask your agent for a stack of cards and keep them handy. Simply hand them a business card and let your agent handle the showing. Your safety isn’t worth a showing. They can schedule something for later that day or the next with your agent. Your agent has ways to verify that the person is serious about purchasing a home and knows the questions to ask to keep you and your home safe.

By having them schedule the showing through your listing agent, you can have a level of protection for you and your family. For more on the things I provide when selling a home in Myrtle Beach, contact me today! Let my marketing system that exposes your home to over 37,000 potential buyers in less than 24 hours work to help get your home SOLD today!