By Chandi Lowry - bio | email
CONWAY, SC (WMBF) – As South Carolina enters hurricane season, two Conway families remember what it was like when Hurricane Floyd ravaged their homes.
Randy Riddle recalled the day Floyd forced him and his wife Judy out of their house along Sherwood Avenue.
"It was bad. It looked like a warzone here in the neighborhood," Randy said.
His wife Judy agreed.
"The floods began to come and it was just awful," Judy said.
The couple said it took weeks to clean up the water that filled their backyard and crept into their home. It left behind major damage, but the house still stands today.
Conway resident Bob Grooms wasn't as lucky. He lost his home due to the flood.
He said his house was one of two dozen homes in the area near Crabtree Swamp that was underwater and eventually wiped out after Floyd moved through.
"On this street here there were houses all the way down over to our right and down this street down Sherwood Avenue and if you look now there aren't any homes," Grooms said.
Grooms said the water was halfway up the trees. He remembers the trials of Floyd and has flashbacks whenever he hears about hurricanes.
"You don't understand unless you have walked in someone else's shoes so when we see this happening we understand exactly what the feelings are," Grooms said.
He said when Floyd hit, his family had to use a boat to get around.
"We would always have to take a boat because we would park up here at the parking lot at Trinity Methodist Church and take a little boat and row down to the house," Grooms said.
Although it was rough losing his house and having his memories washed away in the floods, Grooms is glad the people he loves are still close. Know he does what he can to prepare for the next time he may have to survive a storm.
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