COLUMBIA, S.C. — A video of a large number of tourists at Myrtle Beach on Sunday has gone viral.
The video shows people, golf carts and mopeds blocking Ocean Boulevard for a block party. Large crowds also were dancing, playing music and blocking traffic.
Mark Kruea, a City of Myrtle Beach official says, “we need to figure out a way to live with Covid-19 and that means not the careless approach we saw this past weekend. We need much more thoughtful visitors if you’re planning on coming to Myrtle Beach.”
Kruea says City Council had an emergency meeting Monday to prevent something like this from happening again.
On Thursday, Myrtle Beach hotels and lodging facilities started accepting new reservations. That means people can now book hotel rooms and beach houses for the summer. Tourists are flooding the Grand Strand to enjoy the open beaches, shops and restaurants.
Kruea warns that Myrtle Beach is, “not quite back to full strength yet. We want everybody to come and obey the rules but understand you may have to wait in line… it’s just not the Myrtle Beach you know and love quite yet.”
Other South Carolina beaches are also seeing a high return of visitors. Isle of Palms mayor, Jimmy Carrol, said Saturday was the busiest day he has ever seen in his more than 60 years living there. Traffic backed up all the way to the mainland. Plus, Hilton Head Island had packed beaches after reopening public access on Friday.