South Carolina Braces As Threat Of New Flooding Looms

Officials in flood-stricken South Carolina have been scrambling to fix a breach in the Columbia canal that is threatening the main water supply for 375,000 people.

Rivers rose and dams bulged Wednesday as South Carolina faced another anxious day of waiting for floodwaters to recede, and search teams found the bodies of two people who had driven around a barricade and into rushing water. Residents are concerned there may be more flooding on the Black and Waccamaw rivers – two waterways cited as worrisome by Gov. Nikki Haley. This morning, officials ordered residents near Columbia’s Beaver Dam to evacuate, warning that the structure could break and release millions of gallons of water.

“Move to higher ground now”.

At least nine people drowned and six died in traffic accidents, South Carolina’s Department of Public Safety said. Authorities kept a voluntary evacuation notice in effect for residents living downstream of the dam. Despite a setback involving efforts to plug a breached dam near the main water treatment plant, workers had already been working on an alternative plan to pump water directly from another location on the river, Assistant City manager Missy Gentry said. The storm is blamed for at least 15 deaths in South Carolina and two more in North Carolina.

The only area still reporting drought is the extreme southern part of South Carolina, which received less than 3 inches of rain in the storm.

Obama’s action makes federal funding available to affected parties in Charleston, Dorchester, Georgetown, Horry, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland and Williamsburg counties.

The governor would not estimate the financial toll from the record rainfall and flooding.

Floods of this magnitude have a one in 1,000 chance of happening, noted the article, meaning it is a 1,000-year rain event.

Information for this article was contributed by Jeffery Collins, Susanne M. Schafer, Adam Beam, Emery P. Dalesio and Meg Kinnard of The Associated Press.

If you’re safe where you are, stay there. Local officials plan for classes to resume Monday at Scott’s Branch High School, where the local shelter is now. A football game between USC and Louisiana State University was scheduled to be played in Columbia on Saturday, but it will instead be played in Baton Rouge.

Columbia is also still under a boil water advisory, meaning all water must be boiled for a minute before cooking or drinking. Bottled water and portable restrooms were delivered to the students Monday morning.

For farmers, the worst of the flood damage was in low lying fields that spent days in standing water, hitting peanuts, cotton and soybeans especially hard, Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers said. Any ice made from water that was not boiled beforehand should also not be used. County officials have warned about scammers who may be driving around in vehicles with false Federal Emergency Management Agency markings.

“There are still many, many parts of the state that have washed out roads and flooded roads”, SCEMD Public Information Officer Derrec Becker said.

As of October 8, Interstate 95 was closed between Exits 119 to 132 and approximately 250 roads and 100 bridges remained closed.

Nearly five days after the rain subsided in South Carolina, the state is still reeling from the impacts from one of its worst floods in recorded history.

At a nearby table, retired Army sergeant John Rivers, 67, said he had managed to save a few personal papers and photographs before being evacuated.

He says those schemes can come by telephone, social media, email or in-person solicitors. She and her sister, Mary Singletary, then returned for everything they could carry.

Flooding is a concern wherever concrete covers soil that would otherwise act as a sponge in heavy rain. They were hoisted and taken to Mt. Pleasant Regional Airport and are in good condition with no injuries.