Heavy rain continues to slam South Carolina after a powerful storm flooded much of the state over the weekend. Emergency workers are going door-to-door to search for anyone who may still be trapped in their homes. At least seven deaths have been blamed on the storm so far.
The storm dumped more than 20 inches of rain on one area of Columbia, South Carolina’s capital. Many cars ended up completely under water on flooded streets. Even weather experts said they were surprised by the amount of rain the storm dumped on the state. On Sunday, Governor Nikki Haley said the storm is the kind seen only once in a thousand years.
Earlier in the week, weather experts had predicted Hurricane Joaquin to slam the East Coast, but the hurricane turned away in the Atlantic Ocean. Despite the shift, Shepherd says tropical moisture from the hurricane helped boost the power of the rainstorm in the Carolinas and several neighboring states.
According to the National Weather Service, Sunday was the wettest day in the history of Columbia. The rainfall total at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport was 6.87 inches, the highest one-day level ever recorded there.
The flooding caused water main breaks that have threatened the drinking water supply for South Carolina’s capital city. Columbia officials told all 375,000 of its water customers to boil water before drinking it. Worse still, many roads and bridges across the state were washed out or under water.
One of the hardest hit areas in Columbia was near Gills Creek, where a weather station recorded over 20 inches of rain over the weekend. Rescue crews used boats to save the family of Jeff Whalen, whose house backs up on the creek.
Columbia residents have also been helping one another. Rawlings LaMotte, 38, said he and a friend got into a small motorboat and transported several people to safety.
“Until you've experienced something like this, you have no idea how bad it really is,” LaMotte said.
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