NEWS

Governor asks reluctant residents to go ahead of floods

Tim Smith
tcsmith@greenvillenews.com

COLUMBIA — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley urged thousands of reluctant coastal residents to leave their homes now ahead of coming flood waters that she said could stay for 12 days.

"The sun is out but the water is coming and they need to get out," she said.

Flood waters that have already devastated many counties in the Midlands are flowing downstream, she said, and will flood Georgetown within 12 hours and Jamestown and the area south of Givhans Ferry within 72 hours.

Haley said she watched the flood waters travel downstream during an aerial tour of the state and can see what is headed to the coast.

She said many residents have survived tropical storms and hurricanes and don't see a reason to leave.  But unlike those storms, in which the weather moves after several hours or a day, the coming flood will not go away anytime soon, she said.

"This is a different kind of bad," Haley said.

The flooding from record rainfall has caused 1,200 rescues, including 500 from firefighters, she said, urging members of the public to thank any firefighter they see to give them a lift.

She said the number of dam failures have increased to 14 from the flooding, which also has claimed 17 lives.

"South Carolina may be bruised but we are not broken," Haley said.

The flooding also has produced 38 boil advisories, the most significant of which remains in Columbia.

The capital's weary water customers, who have been without safe drinking water from their taps since Sunday, woke up Thursday to good news and bad news.

The good news was that for those in and around the town of Chapin, the tap water is finally safe to drink.

The bad news for almost 400,000 others is that work to restore a 60-foot gap in the Columbia Canal, a major source of drinking water for the city, suffered a setback Wednesday night, sending officials back to the drawing board and considering a backup plan to ensure the city's water supply is stabilized.

Officials asked customers Wednesday to conserve water use as much as possible and said they anticipate the current boil water advisory will remain in effect "for an extended period of time."

Multiple water distribution sites are open in the city and county so residents have bottled water to drink. The federal government alone is sending 55 tractor trailer loads of water bottles for the city.  Many companies have donated water as well as individuals and groups, including a group led by Congressman Jeff Duncan.

Officials had expected the breach to be filled in and for the boil advisory to be lifted soon for customers in the Irmo area once the gap was closed. Teams of National Guardsmen, South Carolina Electric and Gas Company workers and city personnel had been working on the project all week.

But as workers neared completion of a boulder dam above the breach, the increasing water force through the narrow opening tore at the edges of the canal, stopping work on the dam.

“We are up against some challenging situations, but we’re doing our best to make the repairs while still keeping the canal levels up,” said Assistant City Manager Missy Gentry. “Although I am disappointed our initial plans were not successful, we had the foresight to have an alternate plan already in place and we are moving forward."

Rather than using the raw water intakes that typically draw water from the canal, the backup plans include installing pumps that move water directly from the canal and Broad River. This plan will help replenish the reservoir as work continues on the canal, city officials said.

However, State Adjutant General Bob Livingston said later Thursday that "significant progress" is being made in the dam and officials hope the work will stabilize the city's water supply.  He said officials will know if the work on the dam is successful within the next 24 hours.

The city has been successful in fixing significant breaks in its service lines throughout the system, officials say. By fixing these breaks, Gentry said, the city has significantly reduced the number of leaks the system is facing, which reduces the amount of water that the city needs to produce.

“We will continue to work around the clock in order to ensure that repairs are successful,” said City Manager Teresa Wilson. 

S.C. Flood: How you can help

Clemson University offering ways to help flood victims