'Unprecedented': 7 dead and hundreds rescued in historic flooding in S.C.

World

‘Unprecedented’: 7 dead and hundreds rescued in historic flooding in S.C.

Rescue workers across South Carolina will go door-to-door on Monday to ensure that residents in heavily flooded areas are safe. On Sunday, hundreds of people were rescued from fast-moving floodwaters as days of driving rain hit a dangerous crescendo that buckled buildings and roads, closed a 75-mile stretch of Interstate 9 that connects Washington, D.C., to the southern United States, and threatened the drinking-water supply for the state capital, Columbia. Emergency workers waded into waist-deep water to help people trapped in cars; dozens of boats fanned out to rescue people in flooded neighborhoods; and some people were plucked from rooftops by helicopters. Columbia Fire Chief Aubry Jenkins said there were too many rescues to keep count.

Among the seven people who have died in the flooding is Timothy Wayne Gibson, a 45-year-old South Carolina Department of Transportation worker who died in flood waters Sunday while overseeing work near downtown Columbia. People were told to stay off roads and remain indoors until floodwaters recede, and an overnight curfew was issued for Columbia and across two surrounding counties. Capital city officials told all 375,000 of the city’s water customers to boil water before drinking because of water-line breaks and the threat of rising water to a treatment plant. Meanwhile, nearly 30,000 customers were without power at one point.