S.C. wet woes continue
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina was expecting sunshine today after days of inundation, but it will still take weeks for the state to return to normal after being pummeled by a historic rainstorm.
Even as the rain tapered off, officials warned of the likelihood of new evacuations — such as one ordered Monday afternoon in one of two towns east of downtown Columbia where two dams were breached.
The governor warned communities downstream that a mass of water was working its way through waterways toward the low-lying coast — bringing the potential for more flooding and more displaced residents.
“This is not over. Just because the rain stops does not mean that we are out of the woods,” Gov. Nikki Haley said Monday.
South Carolina’s geography and poor spending on infrastructure left several towns and cities like islands after roads washed out and creeks topped bridges.
One of those cut-off communities was Manning, the county seat of Clarendon County, about 60 miles southeast of Columbia.
“I fear the worst is to come. We have a power substation under water. No telling when that thing gets fixed,” Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett said.
At least 10 weather-related deaths in South Carolina and two in North Carolina were blamed on the vast rainstorm, including those of five people who drowned in their cars in Columbia alone. A solid week of rainfall also sent about 1,000 to shelters and left about 40,000 without drinkable water.
Much-feared Hurricane Joaquin missed the East Coast, but fueled what experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called a “fire hose” of tropical moisture that aimed directly at the state. By Monday, the heaviest rains had moved into the mid-Atlantic states, but not before making history in South Carolina.
The 16.6 inches of rain that fell at Gills Creek near downtown Columbia on Sunday made for one of the rainiest days recorded at a U.S. weather station in more than 16 years.
John Shelton of the U.S. Geological Survey said flooding can be a concern for any urban area, with an abundance of concrete covering soil that would otherwise act as a rain sponge.
But the multitude of waterways in Columbia also makes the city a prime target for flooding, as rainwater seeking to flow into a creek or river gets waylaid on the city’s roadways.
“The fact is that we’re getting six months’ worth of rain in two days that’s falling in an urbanized area,” Shelton said. “This was kind of the perfect storm.”
The governor has said the deluge is the kind of storm seen only once in 1,000 years. She said 550 roads and bridges were closed across the state. All will have to be checked for structural integrity, which could take weeks.
Complicating the problem is that the infrastructure was already in bad shape in places. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, 1,048 of the 9,275 bridges were structurally deficient before this storm.
The flooding forced hundreds of weekend rescues and threatened the drinking water supply for Columbia, with officials warning some could be without potable water for days because of water main breaks.
