Moment mother and baby airlifted from flooded South Carolina home

Emergency officials said there were about 140 water rescues in Dorchester overnight.

NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins said that “95 percent of the damage has already been done in South Carolina and waters levels in most cases are beginning to recede”.

“This is different than a hurricane because it is water, it is slow moving and it is sitting”.

But he added: “Rivers all through South Carolina are running exceptionally high and will cause further damage into Wednesday even though it will be sunny by then”.

Mobile users, tap here to see flooding photos from across South Carolina. Three fatalities have been reported by state law enforcement officials since the beginning of the storm.

The weather service warned that much of Georgia and South Carolina were saturated by rains that have blasted the area since Thursday.

Earlier, the city issued a boil water advisory for all of its 375,000 customers. Almost 30,000 customers were without power at one point.

Wilson McElveen lives on a hill in a place called Forest Acres, but just down the hill, neighbors were flooded out of their townhomes by water surging over a nearby dam.

Columbia Police Chief William Holbrook said door-to-door search and rescue operations by police, firefighters and other emergency responders would continue Monday.

Earlier Sunday, LaMotte said he and a friend got into a small motorboat and ended up ferrying several people to safety, including a man who had been out of town and found roads to his home blocked. CBS’s Anna Kuskin reports. The creek was 10 feet above flood stage, spilling floodwaters that nearly reached the stoplights at a four-lane intersection. The state climatologist forecast another 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 cm) through Monday as the rainfall began to slacken. “We didn’t want to take the chance”, she said.

Gorrin said his aunt, Wanda Laboy, waited several hours after calling 911, but authorities did not come. “Neighbours tell me it’s the worst since Hurricane Hugo” in 1989, said 38-year-old Jamieson Clair, a resident of the city.

“This is an incident we’ve never dealt with before”, Gov. Nikki Haley said.

President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for South Carolina on Saturday. “You know the amount of rainfall that we have experienced is unprecedented”.

The agency says in a news release that 45-year-old Timothy Wayne Gibson died in flood waters Sunday while overseeing work near downtown Columbia. In North Carolina, a driver died on a rain-slickened road on Saturday, according to that state’s Highway Patrol. The weather systems brought drenching rains and strong winds to the region, knocking down trees and power lines. Creeks overflowed into neighborhoods and shopping centers. “I’ve been rushing around, making sure I have everything I need”, said the 65-year-old Gainey.

“She lost everything.”His aunt, who didnt appear to be injured, was heading with her nephew to his house in an unflooded area of Columbia, he said.“Im trying to find my way back home, and every road that weve taken is blocked or flooded, ” he said in a phone interview. “It’s unusual leaving everything behind”.

For motorists tempted to drive during the deluge, Charleston County’s government tweeted the urgent message, “Please stay HOME”. He stresses that “this is not a time for anybody to be a spectator”.

“This is an extremely unsafe and life-threatening situation”, wrote the National Weather Service’s Charleston office in a Sunday morning flash flood statement.

State Rep. Kirkman Finlay says the state did not properly plan for the possibility of historic flooding, even though forecasters warned of the possibility days in advance. Other cities across the Midlands have also issued curfews.

The state Department of Transportation says at least 211 state roads and 43 bridges across South Carolina are closed due to historic flooding.