Is Hurricane Joaquin heading to Britain?

About 40,000 have been left without drinkable water.

The latest death reported was a woman killed when her SUV was swept into flood waters in Columbia. The driver drowned, but a woman who was riding in the auto managed to climb on top of it and was rescued by a firefighter who waded into the water. Otherwise, she says residents should stay at home and off roads.

“If water is entering your house and you feel unsafe, please evacuate to the county shelter”, emergency management tweeted.

The weather service forecast “catastrophic flash flooding” overnight into Monday in Berkeley County in South Carolina, where more than 18 inches of rain had fallen in 24 hours, according to the CNN Weather Center.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said parts of the state were hit with rainfall that would be expected to occur once in 1,000 years. But the U.S. National Hurricane Center said there were still tropical storm conditions on the mid-Atlantic territory about 600 miles (965 kilometers) away from the closest part of the U.S. East Coast.

The National Weather Service says Sunday was the wettest day in the history of Columbia.

The weather service said Burlington, Vermont, had 2.04 inches of rain on Tuesday, a record for daily rainfall for the day.

The 16.6 inches of rain that fell on the Gills Creek area near Columbia on Sunday was one of the rainiest days in the U.S.in the last 15 years.

“The flooding is unprecedented and historical”, said Dr. Marshall Shepherd, a meteorologist and director of the atmospheric sciences program at the University of Georgia.

A weakening Hurricane Joaquin moved past Bermuda and farther out into the Atlantic on Monday after pounding the wealthy financial haven and tourist destination with heavy rains and winds.

“We would be very concerned about them”, Greene said.

Of the 83 road closures throughout the state early Sunday, 46 were in Charleston, Rousey said. And it could take weeks or longer to ensure the safety of numerous roads, highways and bridges rendered impassible by a historic rainstorm that pummeled South Carolina.

She said people who live in low-lying areas need to go ahead and leave.

“This is not over”. “Just because the rain stops, does not mean that we are out of the woods”.

Haley, a Republican, also thanked President Barack Obama for a disaster declaration that frees up federal resources and for personally calling her Monday morning.

At least seven weather-related deaths have been blamed on the rainstorm that has lingered for days and been linked to an unusually deep low pressure system.

Three people died Friday and Saturday in traffic incidents in South Carolina, and a vehicle passenger died in North Carolina on Thursday when a tree fell on Interstate 95, officials said.

McArthur Woods, 56, drowned after his auto was inundated.

Haley said that 25 emergency shelters are open, housing more than 900 people. Most of the rescue operations are being staged in Dorchester and Charleston, where at least 30,000 people are without power.

The flooding forced hundreds of weekend rescues and threatened the drinking water supply for Columbia, with officials warning a few could be without potable water for days because of water main breaks.

The city has warned all residents to boil water before using it for drinking or cooking.

A half-dozen fire trucks and pumps from cities in South Carolina have moved hundreds of thousands of gallons of water to a hospital in downtown Columbia.