Governor Nikki Hayley addressed the media Thursday afternoon, and in the governor’s words she said, “Georgetown will flood in the next 12 hours”. And it could get worse. “Please take precaution”, Haley said.
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She says they are trying to fix the Columbia canal. The county has only issued special instructions for the Oatland and Dunbar communities. Mandatory evacuations are in effect for a few of the hardest-hit areas. Already, road crews have shut down Highway 151 and 261. In the next 72 hours flooding in the Jamestown area is also likely.
“Take it seriously. We’re trying to keep people well and healthy, and so this is where you can help us in terms of listening to that”, Haley said. She pleaded with people along the coast to heed her warning.
“You’re seeing boats in yards, and you’re seeing houses underwater, and you’re seeing damage at levels we never thought we would see”, Haley said. “We have got to get them to see the seriousness of the fact that they don’t need to be sitting in flooded areas for 12 days”.
The military has been deployed to shore up the state’s water management system.
Haley said the SCDOT has 2,100 maintenance people on the roads, and that number includes 200 engineers who will assess new vulnerable areas. The Highway Patrol has responded to 5,603 calls for service, and 2,549 of those were related to collisions.
Since the rain started late last week, 1,200 people and animals across the state have been rescued.
They are now watching 70 dams.
She says there are now 38 boil water advisories because of contaminated water. She says they can expect flooding for the next 12 days. The department is now estimating the storm caused about $300 million in direct crop losses; the exact amount will be finalized after the harvest season. In addition, 16 counties have been declared as disaster areas. Haley said FEMA teams will be on the ground Thursday in Abbeville, Bamberg and Colleton Counties.
Areas of Dorchester, Charleston, Georgetown and Williamsburg counties that are situated close to the Waccamaw and Edisto rivers are expected to be affected by the flooding.
Right now the skies have cleared, but the dangers from rising waters remain very real in South Carolina.
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“For those of you that have lost anything, I am extremely sorry that you are going through this”, Haley said.
