Status Update on Conditions in Pawleys Plantation 10 "15

Much ado is being made in the media about the amount of rainfall in the Carolinas this weekend.  Rainfall up to 18 " has been predicted for some areas along the coast, and indeed some areas are getting hammered  ( Charleston Airport got 5" last night, and one needs a kayak to get through some of downtown Charlestons streets).    With stories like that, we are getting panicked calls from friends and relatives alike.  Thank you all for your concern, but be reassured,  Pawleys Plantation is in no current danger of washing away. So far, all we have seen is what is called 'nuisance flooding' where standing water in the streets reaches ankle level.

Bruce and I took a little photo tour of the plantation this morning.  Hopefully it will ease the minds of our snow bird neighbors that their homes  and friends are safe. So starting from the entrance:

PP Way just past Guard House Entrance

We found flooding on Pawleys Plantation Way (PP Way)  just after passing the guard house .

PP Way just past Guard House Entrance

It looks kinda scary driving into it, 

PP Way looking toward the Guard House

but you can see looking at it from the other direction the water really isn't more that 4 inches deep and there is no flow at all. ( The splash does however makes a far better detector than the speed monitors for determining who is driving over the posted limit).

Turtle Creek  and PP Way

Turtle Creek has shallow flooding in the street and driveway entrances for the first few houses.

PP way near the 3rd Fairway cart path

PP then dries out until you reach the ponds between the 3rd Fairway and Savannah/Old Augusta ,

PP Way between  Savannah and Old Augusta 

where water again completely covers portions of the road.

3rd Fairway Pond run off

The problem here is that the street water would normally drain into the 3rd fairway pond, but the pond is full and there is no place for the water to go.

The 3rd fairway itself and its cart path did not have any standing water.

Form Old Savannah near PP Way

Portions of Old Savannah have minor standing water near the pond between Savannah and Old Augusta.  Again, this is due to the retention ponds being too full to accept runoff from the streets.

Savannah Street run off area

Old Augusta looking towards PP Way

Old Augusta did not have any standing water that we could see.  The banks of the pond are quite steep on the old Augusta side of the pond. The water was up to the bottom of the wood duck houses, bu still had a couple of feet to go before it would have overflown its banks.

Corner of Green teal and PP Way

There is shallow standing water all the way across PP way  from the Pond at the corner of Green Teal and PP way.  Same issue as all the rest... No place for the water to go until the tide recedes and some water from the retaining ponds can be pumped into the marsh.

PP way and pond at Green Teal

The next area we encountered water were the two wetland lots that border PP way just beyond Pintail and Grey Fox  The water didn't full flood the street but one can see that the wetland lots were completely saturated and the next rain would bring the water further onto the street.

PP way and wetland lots

The remainder of Pawleys Plantation way and all the other side streets  were free of standing water.

10th Fairway has new water hazard before the sand trap.

Last nights's rainfall did create some interesting new challenges on our golf course. Both the 10th and the 17th fairways have new water hazards.

17th Fairway  has new water hazard before the green.

Don't forget to watch out for the Ibis hanging out in their new pond.

Ibis on 17

Or the  Alligator  and  Wood-storks hanging out on the 18th fairway beside the pond

As I mentioned earlier, most of these problems are very short lived.  Street water  is supposed to drain into the retaining ponds.

Looking across the pond at 18th fairway  to natural creek end

If the ponds get too full, the golf course pumps the excess  into the fresh water marsh ( below) through a natural creek on the pond at the 18th fairway. 

From there the water empties into a larger Pawleys Island Salt Marsh on other other side of the causeway  to the 13th fairway( below)

If the tide is too high to push more water into the marsh, there is nothing to be done but wait for it to recede, and  in the meanwhile enjoy the wild life the rain and the tides bring with them.