The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Department helps residents…
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Copyright © The Associated Press. “People are not out of harm’s way”.
Assistant City Manager Melissa Gentry said they are still pumping about 25 million gallons a day into the city, which is in line with normal operating conditions. Further evacuations are possible in the next 24 hours in a number of eastern counties, Governor Nikki Haley told a news conference.
Haley planned to travel to the four counties Thursday afternoon.
Columbia is also still under a boil water advisory, meaning all water must be boiled for a minute before cooking or drinking.
Multiple water distribution sites are open in the city and county so residents have bottled water to drink.
However, the warning of more flooding is not a mandatory evacuation order, South Carolina Emergency Management Division Director, Kim Stenson, said.
On Tuesday, the governor said it could be “any amount of dollars”.
President Obama had already signed a disaster declaration Monday following almost 2 feet of rain in central South Carolina, making federal aid available for recovery efforts in the state. Three others were added earlier Wednesday.
About 300 state-maintained roads and 140 bridges remained closed on Wednesday, including a stretch of Interstate-95, state transportation officials said.
“Their stuff is floating all in the house”, Jones said.
“There are still many, many parts of the state that have washed out roads and flooded roads”, SCEMD Public Information Officer Derrec Becker said.
The Carolinas saw sunshine Tuesday after days of inundation, but it could take weeks to recover from being pummeled by a historic rainstorm that caused widespread flooding and 17 deaths. But city officials denied those rumors Thursday.
Although the bulk of the rain has ended, high waters are still a very risky reality after the historic flood event in South Carolina.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned that the disaster could “break the bank” of federal emergency funds, possibly topping $1 billion.
Weathers says his initial estimate is conservative and could rise. Much of the area is flooded from the rising Waccamaw River.
He says officials are still working to determine the damage to livestock and poultry, and that timber harvesting will resume when logging roads are passable.
Al Roker, well, he took a smiling selfie while covering the deadly flooding in South Carolina.
Andy Shain is covering the flooding for The State newspaper in Columbia. “These overflows did not impact drinking water”, the statement said.
The City of Columbia has also closed its offices Thursday and Friday except for essential services.
The city plans to install pumps to divert water from the canal and the nearby Broad River to the reservoir that feeds the water plant.
“I believe that things will get worse before they get better”, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin said Monday in the article.
The canal’s normally calm waters looked like a whitewater rapids course after days of record rainfall across the state.
In the capital city, officials sought to dispel rumors the Columbia was on the verge of running out of water.
“I’ve got a few important documents in the closet I need”, said Lewis, 28, who grew up in the same three-bedroom apartment in which she had been raising her own children in Summerton, a tiny town 30 miles south of Sumter. The university said more than 80,000 fans expected for the game in Columbia would have put too much stress on weakened infrastructure.
“It appears to be an absolute certainty that the final damage bill is going to be above $1 billion, and most likely a multibillion economic cost”, Bowen told USA TODAY.
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Meanwhile, there’s still a threat of more flooding, especially downstream as the floodwaters head toward the Atlantic.
