President Donald Trump will land in Myrtle Beach Wednesday morning to visit a part of South Carolina hit hardest by Hurricane Florence.
Both the the Post & Courier and CNN say two sources confirmed the trip, though the exact areas the president will visit with Gov. Henry McMaster remain unclear.
Just west of Myrtle Beach in Conway, the Waccamaw River is expected to bring record floods and to rise to almost 19 feet by the end of the week, about a foot higher than the record set by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, according to The Sun News. The National Weather Service forecasts the Little Pee Dee River in Galivants Ferry to hit major flood stage late Tuesday, reaching 15 feet by Friday.
Floodwaters have shut down more than 200 roads and bridges and blocked lanes on I-95. So far, six people have been reported dead in S.C. as a result of Hurricane Florence.
CNN reports that Trump will also visit North Carolina, where coastal areas were hard hit by Florence as well.
President Trump caught flack during a post-storm visit to Puerto Rico in October 2017, shortly after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island and left most of it without power. In one video, the president is seen cheerfully tossing paper towels into a crowd gathered at a chapel in the Guaynabo neighborhood.
[embed-1] Last week, Trump took to Twitter to dispute a George Washington University study that found that an excess of close to 3,000 people died in the U.S. territory in the six months following Hurricane Maria as a result of unsafe conditions and lack of electricity.
Gov. McMaster’s office did not immediately respond to e-mails and calls requesting comment on President Trump’s visit.
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