Interstate 95 closed in SC from I20 in Florence SC to I26 due to flooding

a reply to: thorfourwinds

Wow, be safe, thofourwinds!

a reply to: SCGrits

Mandatory evacuation, another dam breached. Forest Acres area:

Source

The video mentions another dam downstream being threatened. This truly is a cascading effect. Scary.

Latest from Governor's news update at noon today:

Here is some of the information provided from officials at the news conference:

**9 weather-related deaths (5 drowning in cars; 4 traffic- related deaths)
**550 roads closed (100 roads in Columbia)
**Department of Public Safety as responded to 2,700 calls (910 of those were about traffic collisions)
**40,000 people are without water
**26,000 customers without power
**250 troopers working
**932 people in shelters
**Gov. Haley stressed that this situation"is not over." She said just because the rain has stopped does not mean we are out of the woods. She said this is still a "vulnerable situation."

Haley said Interstates will be top priority to get back into service, then US & SC roads, then high volume 2-lane roadways.

Source

Lets not forget 'Robinson Nuclear Plant' in SC. It was already listed as problematic, in need of deactivation I think, some discrepancy that locals were actively addressing, not sure the exact issue... At any rate, it's just west of Florence. I have been there and it wouldn't take much to inundate the whole flatland area.

I stay in Richland County. The weather has been insane. It's been raining for like 10 days straight here. As posted, a lot of dam failures. A portion of Forest Acres had to be evacuated due to a dam bust. Murray dam due to be partially released due to concerns and that res. is big, like so big they lost a b52 bomber in it and just found it 10 years ago. lol Seems very hit and miss though. I and majority of people I personally know got lucky living in one of the higher points in Richland Co. but my neighbor, the SandHills shopping mall is swamped. All you can see are tree tops off to the side of the lots. Polo Rd and Spearescreek Rd washed completely out from one side to the other. (just to show how touch and go it is) They closed I 20 due to issues with Broad River's rise. It was literally touching the bridge whereas it usually sits 15 to 30 ft. below. Same thing for US277 with Congaree River. Few deaths so far though, looking at the damage some received. What I can say about the whole ordeal is: They need to make State of Emergencies issued by the US Gov. more specific. This curfew thing is getting old, I had a lot of buddies go to jail for being out after 7 last night to sit in drunk tanks all night and let go in the AM. When our county went practically untouched during the whole event.

a reply to: Chronico
So glad you have fared better than some! Terrible about your friends who were locked up for... being.
Here is a link to areal pics of the area. Unbelievable!

Aerial Pictures

Just listened to some news footage out of Columbia saying that Sunday Hwy Patrol responded to 315 collisions and over 200 stranded motorists. This is besides the rescue and relocation of people caught in homes where floodwaters advanced so rapidly they needed assistance.

It is not raining today, but additional dams are being breached and many areas of Columbia continue to be paralyzed by dangerously high flood waters.

Hey all I'm still here --haven't forgot ya! Just a quick note that I'll be back later with more info -- Thanks to all ya'll for the incoming info - keep it coming!!. Later.

hey, this 1,000 year flood they are having in south Carolina is just normal variations in weather.....no climate change is happening, right?

Just in:
Dropping 1-ton sandbags from Chinook Helicopters...

The South Carolina National Guard is trying to bolster a major breech in a waterway near Columbia and is working with local officials to try to help keep other smaller dams in the state's flooded regions from bursting.

South Carolina National Guard commander Maj. Gen. Robert Livingston said Tuesday's planned operation involved helicopters dropping 1-ton sandbags from Chinook helicopters on a break between a canal and the Congaree river in Columbia.

Source

Stay safe, people!

I'd just like to take a minute, as a South Carolina resident, and sincerely thank all of the brave souls (National Guard, Rescue Personnel, Red Cross, etc) from surrounding states for coming to our aid. Every state that borders us, and then some, have pitched in to help us.

Also of note, there are no stories of looting or other misbehavior. Just people trying to help each other. Refreshing.

Before and After...
Mouse over the images to see what it looks like now.

Link

OK, I'm back for a while. Gawd almighty where do I start? First I'll start with replies back to those that have posted, then my immediate locale and family personal observations, then try to tackle getting caught up with my perspective of the news, geography and topographical aspects of the dam failures, and environmental and economic impacts of this mess. How's that sound?

Is there a good road map that shows where the closures are for the whole state of SC? The SCDOT map is a joke from what I see. And their list for closures are good but you have to know what county and location their listing frustration if your not from round here!

a reply to: openminded2011

Has anyone noticed catastrophic weather is becoming a weekly event? .......... How many more disasters is it going to take to make people realize that our climate is changing and its human induced?

Yes I agree with you that our climate is changing. Personally I think it's some human induced and some natural and some god only knows what else. Point being anyone of the three by themselves could be manageable --but all three happening at the same time --(and time is the operative word here b/c time on a geologic scale is a lot slower than the day to day grind-- I'm talking years) is tantamount to a little snowball rolling down a steep incline gathering more as it goes along from other sources--pretty soon you have runaway snowball that's morphed into a catastrophic avalanche.

Either way Momma nature - she ain't happy and she's slappin' our collective fanny but royal!

The eyebrow raising weirdness of it all is what's got me going hmmm--Record breaking snowstorm in the NE last winter; a hurricane in NY -Sandy; the epic drought in the west; my god the typhoons in the Pacific this year; and list goes on.

It would be interesting to study how many weather records have been broken over the last 5-10 years vs those broken in the 100 yrs prior to that. That would be a study I would pay attention to.

a reply to: new_here

30,000 people without electricity told to boil water. Also, stay home, don't drive, no water for 3 days. Yikes!

I got one better for ya -- 30,000 ppl without water pressure to flush toilets for 3 days!! ewwww! I know of some that have resorted to grabbing pails of flood water in the yard to flush their toilets.

But even that has it's own set of problems if you're on a septic tank system and it's under water --it ain't gonna work too well there boss.

a reply to: thorfourwinds

Greetings: Just got off the phone with our friend Jim Lee (ClimateViewer.com), and he is high and dry personally, but Sumter is virtually cut off from the rest of the state due to flooded roads. We (OPERATIONS TREE DISASTER RELIEF TEAM) leave Thursday morning and Jimbo's home is our first stop to remove the big trees threatening his lovely home. From there, we will go where the need be.

First off Thor --thanks! I'm sure your skill set will be in high demand. Just be careful getting there, esp the bridges.

""Sumter is virtually cut off from the rest of the state due to flooded roads.""
Man you ain't lying...spent most of yesterday trying to figure out what happen and looking at various maps and all the SCDOT closed roads/bridges out list cause my folks live there --I'll post a little later what I think happen.

a reply to: 38181

The SCDOT map is a joke from what I see

You are so correct -- that itty bitty map is all pretty colors and all and gives a great overall perspective for the press to see how wide spead the damage is, but if you're trying to navigate some where to/from/around this mess --forget about it!!! And the list --I was trying to work with it, google maps and a real paper map yesterday --OMG!! Some of the streets have number names/some have alpha names and you have to cross ref them.

The best I can offer is to take the list and find a "South Carolina Atlas and Gazetteer" map book put out by Delorme - you can usually find one in the Magazine section of Walmart or in a good SC bookstore for about $20. I've gone through 2 map books over the years - it's topo, has rural street names and their sc #. Only drawback is you will need a city map for the big cities b/c it only shows the major roads.

I do not know of any better map source right now, but if I find one I'll post it. Good luck.

a reply to: Plotus

'Robinson Nuclear Plant' in SC. It was already listed as problematic, in need of deactivation I think, some discrepancy that locals were actively addressing, not sure the exact issue... At any rate, it's just west of Florence. I have been there and it wouldn't take much to inundate the whole flatland area.

Man I had not thought of that! Or the Coal Ash ponds!
Robinson looks to be up in the McBee/Hartsville area, South of the Sand Hills area and NW of Florence.

During the storms I was constantly monitoring rainfall in that area b/c I have family that drive activity buses up there. Florence City seemed to holding it's own, Florence County had some flooding around Black Creek/Quinby/TV Road area = USGS rainfall was 12.24 as of 10/5/2015 5pm and Lynches River at Effingham, which is due south of Florence City = USGS rainfall = 17.87 ( !! )

I'm thinking Robinson will be ok though b/c it is in the Sandhills ==which obv has a lot of sand in it's geologic structure, which in this case is a good thing b/c sand perks (drains) way much more faster that the clay here in the Upstate and the silt in the midlands.

The thing that scares me more is the ash ponds b/c they are at ground level and uncovered and coal fired plants are used more in the midland and the coast. I'll get back to this later.

a reply to: Chronico

It's been raining for like 10 days straight here.

I know --I'm going stir crazy b/c I'm a sunshine and play in the dirt kinda gal --would not do for me to live in the NW or England!! where it rains all the time.

but my neighbor, the SandHills shopping mall is swamped. All you can see are tree tops off to the side of the lots. Polo Rd and Spearescreek Rd washed completely out from one side to the other.

Oh my heart weeps for you 'cause I've been there, done that, don't ever wanna go thru that again. I've seen pics of the places you're talking about.

This curfew thing

I know --a gal my sig other works with here in Lancaster lives in Kershaw County -- the store closes at 11pm --Kershaw has county wide curfew and she was nervous about being pulled over just trying to get home from work. She kept her uniform on just for good measure till she got home.