“People are not out of harm’s way”.
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That’s according to a South Carolina Department of Transportation report from Friday morning.
Gay Miller takes photos of E. Main Street in downtown Kingstree, S.C., Wednesday, October 7, 2015, as the Black River floodwaters reflect in the late afternoon light. The capital city is fighting to keep its water system running while people have to boil tap water before drinking it.
The massive rescue effort that unfolded in previous days was illustrated when Haley said that state wildlife officials alone made at least 600 rescues and saved hundreds of pets from flooding.
All of the rest of the city’s 375,000 water customers are still covered under the advisory, which has been in effect all week due to flooding.
In Charleston County, emergency management officials told residents living near the Edisto and Santee Rivers to monitor water levels as those bodies of water threatened to flood.
On Thursday, the Columbia Canal Water Treatment Plant pumped 25 million gallons of water, which is an acceptable daily amount for that plant.
Federal disaster aid has been opened up for five additional South Carolina counties. Three other counties were added earlier Wednesday.
As floodwaters caused by record rainfalls recede across South Carolina, residents are coming home to the heartbreaking reality of just how much they’ve lost.
Retired pilot Vince Hood and his wife Karen spent the day with hired workers and volunteers, tearing their house down to the bare floors and studs. For days, a stretch of more than 70 miles of I-95 was closed from I-20 to I-26.
Residents in South Carolina’s Lowcountry were being warned that water from days of flooding across the state was moving in their direction, and it was going to have major impacts.
“As a City of Columbia water customer, we appreciate what is being done by our City officials to make water available to our area”.
UPDATE: 5:40 p.m.
Officials are warning people in South Carolina to be alert for those who say they are working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and do not have proper FEMA credentials.
South Carolina governor Nikki Haley warned of the possibility of more flooding in the state, emphasizing that water from the swollen rivers may flow into low-lying and coastal areas. “It’s beyond fix at this time”, said sheriff’s Sergeant Kevin Lawrence. Commissioner Hugh Weathers said he flew over flooded areas several times this week and his initial estimate is conservative.
Farmlands have been severely affected and many crops have incurred damage, particularly soybean, peanut, and cotton.
Haley said the SCDOT has 2,100 maintenance people on the roads, and that number includes 200 engineers who will assess new vulnerable areas. We’ve had rain events before, and they were never very pretty, but this is the one the old-timers are going to talk about. Even bulldozers. At one point, 1,000 people evacuated before the sun came up.
South Carolina was soaked by what experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called a “fire hose” of tropical moisture spun off by Hurricane Joaquin, which mostly missed the East Coast.
As he spoke, water rushed through where the dam once was and a military helicopter circled overhead. Local officials plan for classes to resume Monday at Scott’s Branch High School, where the local shelter is now.
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The City of Columbia has also closed its offices Thursday and Friday except for essential services. For now, they’re pumping water from both the canal and the nearby river into the system. In Summerville on Thursday, Dorchester Road flooded again because a pump, here watched by department workers George Jenkins and Edward Williams, could not keep up with rising waters.
