Moving to Florence, SC...Can anyone answer some Q's???

[Wardog1958]

In addition to Quinby and Darlington, there are also Lake City to the south and Hartsville just past Darlington. As for hurricanes, the last one that truly affected the area was Hugo in 1989. Most hurricanes skirt up the coast and hit the Outer Banks region. However, one can never be sure with Mother Nature. As for special insurance, as long as you are not in a flood zoned area, you should be fine with conventional home hazard insurance. The only other thing that I can suggest is to stay away from mobile homes. Although manufactured homes that have been permanently affixed to the property by being bricked up underneath are generally safe.

[bburdette]

[quote=fourangelsmommie;889767]Hello,

My hubby is getting transferred to Florence, SC and I will be joining him when we sell our house. We currently live in a small town in Kentucky about the same size as Florence. We do not have any children, just small house dogs, so schools are not an issue for us. I'm online looking for jobs, but am really not finding much out there.

What are some major companies that are located in Florence or close surrounding areas?

What are the smaller surrounding cities? I think Quinby and Darlington are close, but not sure.

Hurricanes! We are worried about those. How often, if ever, do they affect Florence and surrounding areas? Do we need special insurance on our home if we move there?

I guess I'm just scared. I've lived here all my life and just love my current job. I work as a secretary for a Hospice and HATE to think of leaving. Are there any Hospices around down there?

Any other tips would be appreciated. We were thinking of finding a house/trailer somewhere just outside of Florence...maybe 15-30 minutes away in the 'country', so to speak. Any suggestions

[bburdette]

Hi, Angels' Mom
I was born and grew up here in Florence. Moved away for a while, now I'm back. Florence has a small town flavor. People make their own fun. If you like living in the country, not far from the beach, you will like it here.
Hurricanes! People love to talk about them. The last Big One was 15+ years ago. Of course, the forecast is always "this is the year" for another Big One. Really, nothing to worry about.
Good Vets here. Three dogs let me live with them, so I know how important it is to find a good Vet. I use Westside Vet Clinic. Very sweet people.
Because I am a native and I'm a Realtor, I can answer lots of your questions and help you find a home. I like working with "new" people.
Get in touch. I would love to hear from you.
Brenda
bburdette@burtjordan.com

[JFRRACING]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBlues

Hi, and congratulations on your upcoming move.

McLeod Hospital and Carolinas Hospital System are always a good place to start as far as looking for jobs. The most popular web based job search is Pee Dee Region job search and jobs posting. Find a high quality employee. Find the perfect job. You can search by job type or city. I would suggest searching by the city, Florence. You can also try South Carolina Now (SCNow.com) - Morning News It's the website to the local paper that includes job listings. There is a hospice here as well.

Some surrounding areas are Darlington, Timmonsville, Effingham, Pamplico, and Lake City. Hartsville, Marion and Scranton are also nearby...within 20-30 minutes. Florence, by far, is the nicest area of all.

I have lived here for about 3 years now and have never had a hurricane scare. The last hurricane that affected the area I think was Hugo. I think the worst of it was the winds blowing down trees, etc. There will be occassional tornados around here but nothing too serious.

As far as extra insurance. Based on what happened during Katrina, you would want to consider a flood policy on your home if you are in a flood zone. It is an extra policy aside from your normal homeowner's.

I'll check back to see you if post any other questions.

thanks for the info, DW and i will be moving down there this fall and are looking at homes in those areas..

[thestacys]

Hello Florence is OK you will more then likely want to go to Myrtle Beach to go and have fun and spend the day, nice malls, new theme park, great place, broadway at the beach is A+.Florence has not really caught the fast train to modern living as some bigger places, like if you live to far out of Florence County , or Darlington County there may only be dail up for internet, the roads are not so good, they even take a 1 cent tax I am still wondering where it is going, walmart has fought with some in florence for 3 years about building a new super center, Oh yea I should say there are NO chain pet stores pet smart or petco. Schools are pretty good around Florence as my wife used to teach, they have the most beautiful Liabary that Ive seen in a town this size, great place for children. Also Columbia is near by and has good shoping. I was born in Pikeville Ky so I kinda know where your coming from. the roads here are very busy with the exra traffic from the beach makes it real good on the weekends. The mall in Florence is fair. We have two home emprovment stores now. We are getting a few new food places now and that are coming. I am 33 and my wife is 28 and we like it here. Good luck and if you need more info feel free to email us @ thestacys@gmail.com

[KellyCrash]

If a hurricane hits SC, Florence is going to be affected. Florence is only 70 miles inland. Hurricane Hugo that came through in 1989 was 150 miles wide! In Florence we saw major devastation. Maybe not the same type of devastation seen during Katrina, but there was significant property damage in Florence. We were without electricity for over a week in my neighborhood within the city limits.

You may want to ask for windstorm insurance or ask for an endorsement to your homeowners policy to be sure that anything damaged by a hurricane will be covered. I don't think that you would need a separate policy for it in Florence.

[SCGamecock]

Except for hurricanes Hazel (1954) and Hugo (1989), it is rare for South Carolina to be hit by a major hurricane. Most pass by offshore and hit between Wilmington and the Outer Banks. Please reference the path tropical storm Hanna is currently taking. When this happens, it gets breezy in Florence and we get some heavy rain bands.

Florence is flat and drainage is a problem, so if you choose to live in one of the low areas it may flood as the storm passes. More common is flooding from several days of thunderstorms. Four insurance claims have been filed on my house built in 1967. One was for roof repair after Hugo and three for hailstorm damage to the roof. Therefore, I'm three times more worried about hailstorms than tropical systems.

I would be more concerned about having excellent health insurance coverage. You never know when you're going to end up in the hospital after an accident caused by the bad drivers and drunk drivers in the Pee Dee.

[bbroom1948]

McLeod is not-for-profit, where my wife works as an RN. Many other for-profit hospices. I worked for one as a chaplain. We lived in Florence for over 35 years. Four years ago found a 1 year old double wide on 1.6 acres of land for $60,000 several miles north of Timmonsville. Takes only 10 minutes to be in Florence via the Interstate. Wife grew up in Pamplico. Pamplico, Lake City, Marion, etc, are too far to drive to work. Darlington is about 15 minutes away via Hwy 52. Hurricanes are far and few between.