CRUSOE ISLAND, N.C. _ Westly Dorsch and his fiance Chasity Hewett spent Monday and Tuesday in a boat helping a Coast Guard crew rescue people whose homes in this tiny Columbus County community had been flooded by the Waccamaw River.
On Wednesday, they went back, acting as local guides on the Coast Guard boat that motored up Crusoe Island Road looking for animals that needed help. Their home was among those that were flooded, with about eight inches inside, Dorsch said.
Dorsch and Hewett were both born and raised here. He is a captain with the Old Dock Cypress Creek Volunteer Fire Department, and she is one of the firefighters. They went out Wednesday to check on dogs and cats left behind during the evacuation in ways the Coast Guard crew never could on their own.
"We had a list, as well as just running off of instincts," Dorsch said "We're from the community; we know it like the back of our hand."
Crusoe Island is a two-mile dead-end road near where Juniper Creek meets the Waccamaw south of Lake Waccamaw State Park. Dorsch, 34, doesn't know where the name Crusoe comes from, but the island refers to what happens when the creek and the river rise after a storm.
"When the water comes up, you're on an island," he said.
But the water has never come up this high in their lifetimes _ not after Hurricane Floyd in 1999 or Hurricane Matthew two years ago. The island is submerged.
"It's all underwater, from one end to the other," Dorsch said.
"You've got houses down there that's never had water in it before during Matthew or Floyd that now have water at least ankle deep in 'em," said Hewett, 33.
Dorsch and Hewett and the Coast Guard crew took between 50 and 60 people to higher ground early in the week. On Wednesday, they rescued several dogs and cats that appeared to be in danger. Other dogs and cats they encountered seemed safe, and with the river beginning to recede, they left fresh food and water and let them be.
They also came across some people Wednesday, whose houses were elevated above the water and who had boats of their own if they needed to get out.
Dorsch and Hewett say there's no question about whether they'll stay in Crusoe Island; they will rebuild, though they may elevate their house some.
"You can't ask for a better community. Everybody looks after one another," Dorsch said. "It's going to be a rebuild situation. It ain't going to be a move out."
