On Monday, officials warned South Carolinians to remain on high alert for a second wave of downpour. The state, which is still recovering from the effects of the previous flood, will now have to brave through another one. Already the flood has claimed 12 lives, 10 in South Carolina and two in North Carolina.
Even though the skies appear to have cleared, the instability of the roads and the danger of shifting water are still very much present. Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley announced that evacuation of people is underway. With floodwaters flowing from the midlands to the coast, the South Carolinians are not out of the woods yet.
According to the Office of Emergency Management, eight dams have sustained damage by floodwaters. They have urged residents living near the Overcreek Dam and Forest Acres to leave their homes immediately after they detected a breach in the dams. The situation for the state has only worsened after the breach, as authorities fear that the water from Forest Acres will flood into the Katherine Dam, causing it to breach and flood areas of Columbia.
With the death toll rising, President Barack Obama gave permission
on Monday to provide federal aid to the people affected by the flood. The disaster declaration will provide federal funding to people in Georgetown, Lexington, Richland, Charleston, Orangeburg, Dorchester, Horry, and Williamsburg counties.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said that in the coming days, other counties could be eligible for federal funding, as the damage due to flood continues. The Transportation Department has already closed off several state-mainland roads and bridges. In some areas of the state, people are facing difficulty, as 40,000 homes do not have fresh water to drink and 26,000 people are without power.
1,300 National Guard members have performed 25 aerial rescues while other rescue teams are tasked with going from door to door to see if anyone was left behind during the flood. Head of the National Guard Major General Robert Livingston compared the present situation to the flood of 1989, which devastated Charleston saying, it’s in the same league.
South Carolina’s problem started with Hurricane Joaquin. Even though the hurricane didn’t hit South Carolina directly, it did leave behind tropical moisture. The remnants of the storm caused officials to inform residents to stay in their home, as they could expect over three inches of rain. In addition to the rain, 30 miles per hour wind gusts increased the threat of falling trees.
Aubrey Jenkins, Columbia Fire Chief, when asked to provide reporters with a rough estimate of the number of rescues his team made couldn’t provide them with a number, saying that there were just way too many to count. His inability to tell the number gives people an insight on the severity of the situation. Furthermore, 90 people in the city of Irmo had to evacuate by boat.
Right now, the authorities are working on distributing clean water to centers, but for now, have instructed 375,000 people residing in Columbia to boil water before they drink it. The current downpour has broken the past record, which had been 14.08 inches in 24 hours. Some areas received 25, 24, and 21 inches of rain in one day.
Even though Kevin Roth, a meteorologist from the Weather Channel, has declared this the end of the rain, the threat continues, not from the rain, but from the flowing water from the dams that can cause additional damage.
Be the first to comment on "South Carolina Set to Get More Rain after Flood"