Four Dead, Hundreds In Need of Rescue, Several Interstates Closed in Catastrophic South Carolina Flooding

Expect more bad news before it's over. Since I first posted it, there has been another death reported.

Being psychic (joke), I can predict that the Republicans in Congress from the affected areas who voted against federal aid for the northern states that were devastated by Sandy, will now call for federal aid for their own areas.

Global warming has caused an increase in the amount of water in the atmosphere, which is resulting in increased frequency and amounts of extreme rainfall events.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/01/map-republicans-object-disaster-relief-unless-sandy-hit-their-state

In 22 states, all Republican representatives voted against Sandy aid, including Georgia, South Carolina, & North Carolina.

http://www.weather.com/safety/floods/news/south-carolina-flooding-impacts-0

By Sean Breslin
Published Oct 4 2015

Hundreds of people are in need of rescue, several interstates are closed and four people are dead in some of the worst flooding South Carolina has ever seen, officials said Sunday.

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Officials are worried life-threatening impacts will only worsen as the 1-in-1,000-year rain event continues Sunday. Authorities said hundreds of people were in need of rescue Sunday morning as the floodwaters kept rising all over the Palmetto State.

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Four people have been killed by the flash floods in South Carolina, and officials worry that number will rise. Swift-water rescue teams have been dispatched all over the state to help pluck stranded residents out of flooding. Authorities have asked citizens to only call 911 if there's a life-threatening emergency.

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Multiple dam breaches were reported Sunday morning in Columbia, according to the city's fire department. On its Twitter page, the department said Arcadia Lake, Forest Lake and Lake Dogwood have been affected by the breaches, and if residents are in a dry place, they should remain there.

Emergency vehicles were having trouble navigating the flooded roadways, and in many instances, they were only able to reach victims by boat. In Berkeley County, the U.S. Coast Guard was assisting in water rescues, according to WCSC-TV, as more than one family needed to be removed from their homes. Authorities also requested helicopters to aid in rescues because the number of people needing help outnumbered the vehicles that could reach them.

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Charleston has received more than 14 inches of rainfall since the historic event began Friday. One area northeast of Charleston has reported more than two feet of rain.

“The City of Georgetown is predominantly under water,” Georgetown Fire Chief Joey Tanner said in a news release.

Charleston International Airport reported 11.5 inches of rain fell Saturday, the wettest single day on record for that location. In downtown Charleston, 14.25 inches of rain have fallen, breaking the previous record for the wettest October on record for the city, set in 1959 (11.74 inches).

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In Dorchester County, emergency managers reported at least 100 people had to be rescued at about 3 a.m. EDT Sunday morning from one area. Dorchester Emergency Manager Mario Formisano told The Weather Channel hundreds more likely will need to be rescued, and water rescues could top 1,000 people in the county before the flooding ends.

More than 29,000 customers were without power Sunday afternoon due to the flooding, according to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD).

The seawall at Edisto Beach has been breached, resulting in heavy flooding, SCEMD reported Saturday evening, and a state of emergency has been declared for the town.

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Around midday Sunday, flooding was also reported in the Myrtle Beach area. According to local reports, vehicles were getting stranded on flood-covered, impassable roads, and some neighborhood roads were also flooded.

Governor Nikki Haley declared a state of emergency Thursday evening in advance of any potential impacts from flooding. President Barack Obama also declared a state of emergency and ordered federal aid to help the recovery in South Carolina.

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Charleston store owner Lauren Tuorto told WTVR.com she closed her consignment shop until Tuesday because of the flooding.

“It is impossible to navigate the peninsula right now without a kayak or a monster truck,” she said. “Having weathered plenty of hurricanes in the Out Islands of the Bahamas where my family lives and living in Charleston for 10 years, I have never seen rainfall like this."

A Spartanburg car dealership saw damage to dozens of vehicles after Thursday morning's flooding, reports KXAN-TV. Floodwaters lifted the vehicles and left them in multiple piles, washing two of them underneath a bridge. They were found upside down on the other side of a road. Darrin Shelton, general manager of the dealership, estimates water damage between 50 to 60 of the vehicles, which have to be removed from the lot.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3141

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Using about a century of precipitation records, NOAA has constructed a Precipitation Frequency Data Server, which estimates how often we might expect to see extreme rainfall events recur. According to NOAA's Precipitation Frequency Data Server, these could be 1-in-1000 year rains for some locations. (Hydrologists would refer to a 1-in-1000-year rain as having a typical "recurrence interval" of 1000 years. The idea is that such events are not always separated by 1000 years; the same amount of rain could conceivably occur the very next year, or might not occur until thousands of years later.) The three-day 1-in-1000 year rainfall amounts for Charleston and Columbia are 17.1" and 14.2", respectively. The 24-hour 1-in-1000 year rainfall amounts for Charleston and Columbia are 14.8" and 12.5", respectively.

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