‘We heard a boom’: Residents ask Horry County for warning before ordnance detonations

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) - Some people in Horry County are once again asking for a heads up before unexploded ordnances are detonated by police bomb squads.

It’s an issue people have been bringing up for nearly two years.

The Horry County Police Department’s bomb squad detonated an ordnance Tuesday night that was found in The Farm in Carolina Forest. They destroyed the ordnance off Highway 90.

Many residents said they heard and felt the loud explosion.

“All of a sudden, we heard a boom that rocked the house,” resident Tammy Bradley said.

The incident had many people wondering why there wasn’t any warning beforehand.

“I would’ve appreciated that, just to have some kind of explanation, because again, I still thought maybe it was something with just my house,” Bradley said.

This issue isn’t a new one though.

Back in April 2018, Horry County spokesperson Kelly Moore told our news partners at My Horry News that the county would notify residents through social media about an ordnance detonation before it would happen.

However, no notification was provided prior to Tuesday’s detonation.

Residents wondered why there was no notification. People like Bradley said a notification would be useful.

“Just so next time it happens, I’m not going to be thinking about what it is,” she said. “I just know what it is.”

The spokesperson for Horry County who said notifications would be given back in 2018 referred questions to a Horry County Police Department spokesperson.

Here is her original statement in full:

“We post an alert when there is a perceived threat to the community. Whether or not there is an alert is dependent upon the precise details of a given incident, regardless of incident type. Last night, there was no threat. That said, if you look at the HCPD Twitter, we responded publicly to an inquiry about the ordnance at 8:01 p.m. Media outlets also reached out directly information (sic) and were provided with details.”

The tweet mentioned in the statement was a reply to a tweet a member of the community sent out, asking what the loud boom was after it happened. The tweet HCPD replied with was an explanation that it was an unexploded ordnance being detonated.

When pushed with follow up questions as to why the county did not notify the public despite saying back in 2018 they would, HCPD’s response was as follows.

“HCPD Bomb Squad handles unexploded ordnance calls in the county. Our goal, and the goal of Horry County Public Information, is public safety. If there is a threat to the community, we will provide what information we can, how we can.”

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