South Carolina Death Toll Rises to 16 As Floodwaters Persist

Water is also being distributed at fire stations in the communities of Rembert, Dubose, Mayesville and Pinewood in the wake of the flooding touched off by recent days of heavy rains around South Carolina.

Authorities are ordering people living near a compromised dam in the Columbia area to evacuate immediately.

More than 400,000 of the state’s 4.8 million residents were under a boil-water advisory, which affects about 16 water systems, said Jim Beasley, a spokesman for the S.C. Emergency Response Team. Residents have also been asked to conserve water until crews fix the damage.

There are no plans to turn Columbia’s water off. That’s what city officials told the media Thursday morning following the setbacks workers have experienced while trying to shore up the Columbia Canal. SCE&G, city employees, the State Guard, the National Guard, and private contractors are working on fixing the problem. But with the water level falling because of the levee breach, workers were forced to place orange pumps on the banks of the canal to pump water directly into the reservoir.

Livingston said law enforcement and military officials will go door to door in three particular areas asking people to leave their home, at least for a time, where flooding is expected to pose the greatest danger.

The National Weather Service warned of major flooding along the Santee River near Jamestown, the Edisto River near Givhans Ferry and the Black River at Kingstree. Both drain into Georgetown County.

The Waccamaw was expected to crest at 5 feet above flood stage in Conway, in Horry County, Thursday. The Black crested Tuesday upstream at Kingstree at about 10 feet above flood stage, breaking a record, town officials said.

“It’s hard to look at the loss we’re going to have”, she said.

A request by City Hall on Wednesday for customers to control how much water they use is “an extra conservative effort…to help us pressurize and replenish the system”, Jaco said.

Gov. Nikki Haley planned to visit the coast Wednesday afternoon. While there were more than 25,000 outages as of Monday morning, South Carolina Electric and Gas said that less than 1,000 customers were without power by early Tuesday. Transportation officials said they were still reviewing bridges over two rivers but traffic was cleared north and south of the bridges along the interstate.

At least 13 dams have failed since Saturday, Haley said.

Haley declined to provide an estimated cost of the damage – which she called “disturbing” – but said state and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials were making assessments. “We are watching this minute by minute”, she said.

“I believe that things will get worse before they get better”, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin said Monday.

“We’re talking hundreds of millions (of dollars), maybe over a billion”, he said while visiting a shelter in Columbia. “This is going to continue for several days and even several weeks once the cleanup begins”. “The long and short of it is, my friends and I, people on the block, we’re all safe and I’m happy the house is salvageable”.

John Shelton of the U.S. Geological Survey says flooding can be a concern for any urban area, with an abundance of concrete covering soil that would otherwise act as a sponge for excessive rains.

For days, a stretch of more than 70 miles of I-95 was closed from I-20 to I-26. The flooding has taken a powerful toll on the area’s infrastructure, affecting everything from roads and bridges to water delivery and electrical power.

University officials say only essential personnel should report to its main campus Thursday.

Associated Press writers Jeffery Collins, Susanne M. Schafer and Adam Beam in Columbia, South Carolina; in Columbia; Emery P. Dalesio in Effingham; and Meg Kinnard in Blythewood, South Carolina, contributed.