The historic flooding in South Carolina has caused immense damage throughout the state. The damage from Hurricane Joaquin’s rain is going to be well into the billions of dollars, making this disaster right up there with Sandy and Katrina. The videos already posted on social media sites such as YouTube are simply astounding and jaw dropping to behold, such misery and destruction.
It is not just the damage that residents need to worry about right now. Residents drinking water has been contaminated in many areas, and officials are warning people to boil their water in order to decontaminate it. Also there is a worry about infections and diseases, since flood water is a known carrier of viruses, bacteria and other dangerous pathogens. This flood water also has the possibility to be carrying dangerous chemicals within the water, since this flood water has moved through storm water systems, industrial waste sites and other businesses.
At the very least not one hospital has had to evacuate, as there had been an earlier fear that the area hospitals might need to do emergency evacuations. The hospitals have been kept busy with scores of people sustaining injuries, many of these due to accidents on the few roads that remained open. Plenty of emergency and rescue helicopters have been flying back and forth from area hospitals, dropping off those who were rescued.
Acting Transportation Secretary Christy Hall has warned residents to please stay put, with no unnecessary traveling. This is in response to the fact that over 100 bridges and 550 roads have been closed due to the storm, amid safety concerns, from structural concerns to sink holes, to massive wide scale flooding. These closures are expected to only increase over the next few days as the flood waters surge towards the coast, giving relief to some, yet flooding new areas.
The States capital saw it’s first dry day since Sept. 24, with flood waters finally receding there. The capital however still has a midnight to 6 a.m curfew in effect, and national guardsmen have been seen rendering assistance in the capital.
The danger now is the low country areas, because of the massive amount of water heading towards the coast. the Santee, Edisto and other rivers make their way to the sea, and these rivers have not even yet hit their peak. Georgetown, which was already flooded, will see much more flooding before this is over, since Georgetown sits along the coast, exactly where the flood water from other areas of the state are heading. Georgetown also has the misfortune to be at the confluence of 4 rivers. Effingham also flooded, due to the Lynches river peaking at nearly 20 feet as of Tuesday.
With thousands and thousands of people losing there homes, hope is bleak for many residents here. Some lucky ones will be able to have their property saved, thanks to the efforts of emergency water damage first responder crews, who are already gearing up and being deployed to the effected areas.
