Socastee Creek Watershed Flood Risk & Mitigation Study

Risk Assessment

Socastee Creek Watershed Flood Risk & Mitigation Study

To help Horry County reduce flood impacts to developments within 26 miles of Socastee Creek, ESP prepared a flood risk and mitigation evaluation study, including detailed hydrologic and hydraulic (H&H) analysis for more than 10 miles of streams. The updated H&H analysis and risk assessment found that more than 550 buildings were subject to potential flooding in the 1% future land use conditions event. Following the completion of the study, ESP provided BCA support for the preparation of a FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant application to help fund the flood risk improvements and assisted Horry County to develop a scope of work for design.

The study included field verification and surveying of stream channels and crossings; data compilation and processing, including existing and future land-use conditions; HEC-HMS (Hydrologic Engineering Center – Hydrologic Modeling System) hydrologic modeling and 1D/2D HEC-RAS (River Analysis System) hydraulic modeling; flood hazard and building-level flood impact mapping; evaluation and development of mitigation strategies, including cost estimates and design schematics; and preparation of a comprehensive report and web application to share study findings.