There was only one building at the Sandygate Village boarded up with plywood as the first gusts from Hurricane Florence punched through this 104-unit housing complex: the landlord’s office.

For many in this low-income housing community in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, about a mile from the coast and a few hundred feet from the Waccamaw river, the image spoke volumes.

“They boarded up and now they’re gone,” said 57-year-old resident Henry Mitchell. “I thought they were supposed to do it for us too. It’s crazy.”

Mitchell, who is disabled and unemployed, was among the many residents here who did not evacuate due to financial concerns. “It’s too expensive to move out to a hotel, I could be out for days and I can’t afford to leave my home behind,” he said.

He has no home insurance and worried about damage Florence could wreak on his possessions, in particular the truck parked outside his unit.

“The truck is the main thing. If I see that getting hit, I’ll just try and get it out of here and drive away.”

The managers office of the Sandygate Village boarded up with plywood, sat beside residential units that have been left unprotected. Photograph: Oliver Laughland/The Guardian

Myrtle Beach, with its pristine shoreline, fairground attraction and immaculate golf courses, is known as a major holiday destination in the US south. But for the city’s poorest residents – 23% of people here live below the poverty line – the prospect of a direct hit from Hurricane Florence served only as a reminder of the city’s economic and racial inequality.

Not only will the housing complex probably be hit with sustained rainwater and strong winds, but both the nearby river and ocean are expected to surge and flood during the storm.

“If anything happens to my home I just have to stay right where I am,” said 52-year-old Angela Smith, an African American Sandygate Village resident who was also disabled and unemployed. “I can’t afford to own a car, so I literally can’t leave.”

Instead, she said, she would rely on the tight bonds she had forged with other members of the community. “We all get along here. We all support each other in times like this.”

Betty Ford outside her home in the Sandygate Village. Photograph: Oliver Laughland/The Guardian

All the units in this complex are made of brick and subsidized by the federal government. Residents said the area had not flooded during previous storms and the US department of housing had always met the responsibility of repairing damage sustained during natural disasters.

Betty Ford, a 61-year-old retired housekeeper stood on her porch as the winds began to pick up pace.

“I’m feeling pretty good now, just as long as it stays like this,” she said. “Faith is what brings you through it. Nothing else.”