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

a reply to: new_here
And finally to New Here -- I'm going out on a limb here and assuming b/c of your beautiful fairy winged avatar that you're of the female persuasion - which if correct then I'll say You go girl - you rock! and if you're of the other way to go dude! you rock! Either way, thank you so much for adding to this thread yesterday and today and the wonderful links.

How's your family in Camden and Charleston fairing? You can PM me if you want.

That breech the Chinook was sandbagging was to try and fix the canal to the water treatment plant which has all of Columbia with low or no water pressure. I am unsure at this time if it worked. I'll get pics up later if I can.

originally posted by: SCGrits
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.

Yikes, I hadn't considered the toilet issue!

a reply to: SCGrits

Hi SCGrits, yes female, lol.
We missed you but we kept it going until you could return!

My son made it back to Charleston on Monday. No issues for him, thank goodness. My mom is still doing well in Camden. I grew up in Lugoff, and they have issues as you know, and there have been some closures in Camden, but so far she has not had any issues. Thanks for asking!

I hope your family and friends are all doing well.

Ok, now to the "my immediate locale and family personal observations" part.
FYI -somewhat full disclosure - 1) I've been thru 2 floods and a fire. 2)I have family strewn from Spartanburg to Columbia to Kingstree to Charleston and all points in between. This is personal to me and thank you all so very much for being so very sweet and caring. oh yeah 3) pls pls understand I'm not bragging here -- but I have a BA in Env Studies and a BA in Journalism --ergo I know a little something about env issues & science so I can spot bs fairly easily --esp in the political press/source material & I strive for verifiable vetted sources of info and have/will strive to provide links to said sources when able. Just how I roll boss!

Having said that -- I am not an engineer nor am I in Emergency Management - I can only go with what I know, see and observe.

New Here -- drove over to the Great Falls dam this afternoon and you will be relived to know that they are releasing the barest minimal amount of water over the dam to go downstream to Lake Wateree. I think Duke is still holding water up here where able in the upper Catawba Watershed to lessen the stress downstream.

Just got back from getting groceries and on the way home saw a convoy of Nat Gaurd - I think it was Lancaster Co, b/c they were coming down the ramp from the NGdepot going onto the bypass heading toward i77.

This was not troops - this was civil eng heavy equipment --2 front end loaders with buckets on the front and the claw scooper thingy on the rear, multiple dump trucks, one canvas truck. My guess is they need earth moving & debris removal teams in Columbia.

Went to PO to mail bills and there was a steady stream of traffic northbound on 521. I think maybe this route is one of many being used as a cross country conduit to get over to i85 from Florence.

My family was finally able to get out and about some what today in Eastern Sumter Co. Checked the local bridges over the swamps --they had run over but were still intact; one had a tree that had fell on it and someone had used a chainsaw on it so ppl could travel. Everyone's houses are fine. The pond's spill way was running full tilt and there was some over topping at the launch but it was not eroding; pier was under water. The frog pond in the front yard has receded considerably.

The fields -- still holding water --it's gonna be weeks before the farmers will be able to do anything. This time of year they are getting ready to/or already have planted winter wheat. Not sure what they will be able to do/plant before really cold weather sets in.

Family in Columbia -they're ok - houses ok -but they run a biz where they deliver industrial supplies to companies and they cannot get to their customers --no deliveries =no sales =no income. I am sure that issue is the same for many other folks across the state.

Kingstree --houses ok --some neighbors -not so much. They've had to move the dog houses more than a couple of times to keep them on high ground -- school closed -- hard to get to work and grocery store b/c of all road closures, think it's going to get worse as Black River crests. Church looks like a boathouse with all the water around it. Lot of roads impassable.

Charleston -- ok but still collectively holding their breath as all this water makes it way downstream.

Spartanburg --flooding hasn't been an issue up there, but increased traffic on i85 is due to ppl trying to work their way around the i95 closure / and i77 issues in Columbia.

I didn't post yesterday b/c I just could not read/see anymore heartbreaking news and I did not trust myself not to get emotional posting info. I spent my time doing what I do best -digging up data--looking at maps--cross ref info.
A big thanks to New Here for adding such great links/sources of info.

a reply to: new_here

Yikes, I hadn't considered the toilet issue!

Actually my cuz summed it up best -- the school building is ok and not flooded, but the grounds are, & it's a small rural private school and I guess it has it's own septic system b/c the principal told her "can you imagine 300 kids trying to flush the toilets with no septic system working??" Yeah -yikes. so yeah school closed no problem boss.

Now imagine that all over the midlands where they have standing floodwaters so bad that caskets are floating.---ewww.

I know ours and Dad's tanks gets fussy when we've had a lot of rain.

a reply to: SCGrits

Thank you so much for the update on the Great Falls dam. That is a relief.

Did not realize you had so many connections to so many affected areas. Glad all your folks are safe.

Your family's business interruption in Columbia... situations like that had crossed my mind. The fallout of this is so widespread. I wonder how long it will take for commerce to commence as usual? It just seems like such an overwhelming conglomeration of problems to resolve on such a huge scale, before Columbia and other towns can begin to function anywhere close to normal.

Ok now for the juicy stuff!

This one got my goat big time this afternoon. Wanted to post it so badly but I didn't have time, so it's kinda dated timeline wise, but man alive --this one makes the "are you kidding me?" award.

About 2:30-3:00pm this re-tweet came across from fron SCE&G (SCANA) (power co that runs the dam) to SC Emergency Management:

I wonder how many people were hearing those sirens going off and near 'bout having a heart attack. I realize they have to test them but did they have to test them NOW?? After all the other dam failures in the last two days?? Talk about timing. Those poor people. Some likely as not have no power-so can't see tv/check cpu; are like me have no fancy iphone or what not so can't monitor apps; just out there flying by the seat of their pants and the grace of god.

Lake Murray is the BIG BAD --if it goes you'd better be making your peace with God or what ever deity you hold sacred.

Right outside Summerville here (it's a suburb of Charleston). My kids are still out of school, and no word on when they will. We fared better with the rain. A roof leak, but no flooding. What's happened now is that the rivers are washing out the roads. I cross the Ashley River at least 2xs a day just getting the boys to school. Both routes I'd take are blocked. The only way I could get into town would be going into Charleston and driving up 26, or taking 526 to Dorchester and up. It's crazy!

a reply to: SCGrits

Wow, didn't know about the siren. They really should have mentioned that at one of the press conferences prior to the test, and told all listeners to spread the word to those who may not have power. Maybe post signs at all the places handing out water and such. Geez... poor people!

originally posted by: Lolliek
Right outside Summerville here (it's a suburb of Charleston). My kids are still out of school, and no word on when they will. We fared better with the rain. A roof leak, but no flooding. What's happened now is that the rivers are washing out the roads. I cross the Ashley River at least 2xs a day just getting the boys to school. Both routes I'd take are blocked. The only way I could get into town would be going into Charleston and driving up 26, or taking 526 to Dorchester and up. It's crazy!

Yikes... there is no telling how long it will take, and I understand more water is headed downstream from Columbia. Stay safe, Lolliek!

I also wonder how long before they can resume classes at USC. They've already cancelled thru Friday so far. An entire week of no classes for a college is almost unheard of. And they are looking at places to hold the football game because the infrastructure certainly can't handle an influx of fans coming to Williams-Bryce Stadium!

Ok I'm back -had to pause for the cause and other duties.
Now for a behind the scenes take on one of the pics I saw.
Sunday I saw this series of pics on WIS10 of the horse they rescued in Lexington Co.



Notice the horse in water up to its belly. Seems my cuz in Columbia knows the lady that owns that horse. He was one of two horses in a barn. The barn got swept away when one of the dams gave way, the other horse made it to safety but this poor baby was stuck in the mud for 5 hours. Poor thing was going into spasms, they were able to get him to someones garage close by and get a vet out to sedate him. My other cuz that knows animals -the one with all the dogs-said they will probably have to sedate the poor thing every time it rains he was so traumatized.

You may think I'm kidding but back in the day I worked at a auto/body shop that had 2 Dobies as guard dogs and every time we had a lighting storm the big male dog would jump the fence and cut outta there and it was my job to go find the sucker. Seems that when he was a pup he had a very close call with a bolt of lightning and was terrified of storms.

I'm just glad they were able to help this poor critter.

a reply to: Lolliek
Glad to hear you're hanging in there. I'm wondering about the schools myself. A lot of these rural schools have to run on back roads to pick kids up -- what are they going to do in those areas with no roads or bridges?

One of my folks drives an activity bus for the district --ballgames and special events--they've got 2 events schedule for somewhere around Myrtle Beach in a couple of days and they think it will prob be cx because 1)they won't be able to get on the field 2)the roads will still be closed b/c of the flooding in that area. "Lawd I don't want to be driving a bus full of kids if the road aren't safe" is what they told me. Fortunately it's the district's call and I'm pretty sure if it ain't safe, they won't be driving.

Not only is this going to mess the days in school, it going to really foul up the ballgame schedule. I see some creative scheduling in the future!

The must see video -- The original clip was from a WIS10 newsclip, but all I could find now was the sound bite of the pizza comment. I'm linking two videos from youtube b/c the 1st is the full 1:46 clip and you have to see the full clip & it has the best audio quality and the 2nd has some interesting background comments

The "Two Tortinos pizza and my doggie" lady you tube clip 1
2nd youtube video w/comments
"Front door-once we opened dat it gushed in like the ocean was comin' in our house"
"Child we GOT to go! We GOT to go NOW!"
"I didn't grab nothing but two tortinos pizzas outta the refrigerator and my doggie and we left that's it"

I LOVE this lady. She made me smile through my tears bless her heart. All she has left is the clothes on her back, her friends and her doggie. I am so glad she and hers are safe and were able to get out in time. All I could think was "but for the grace of God there go me and mine".

According to the comment section the water was already halfway up the refrigerator door so all that was accessible was the freezer door. Her beloved doggie's name is Chichi and he's a poodle. Go down to mojo washington's comment and open the 12 replies to see more. Warning -some foul language. FWIW -Apparently Totino's has contacted her and there's a go fund me page set up for her.

I grew up with a family of storytellers and this lady reminds me so very much of when I was a child and we used to sit around at family gatherings and tell stories, illustrating it all our animated hands. We still do it now when we all get together. I still can't tell a story with out moving my hands!! My grandkids even now like to hear my stories of "back in the old days". This lady will for sure have a story of a lifetime to tell her family.

This might be where those NG civil eng equipement was heading - seems this is a late developing story --

Imminent dam breach at Beaver Creek Dam aka Boyds Pond Two in the posh Wildewood community just north of Sesquicentennial Park, above where the other dam breaches have already occurred Possible Beaver Dam breach in Richland co. via WLTX 19

Late Tuesday night, the Richland County Sheriff's Department said it was still extremely concerned about the structure, and was recommending that people in that area go to the county shelter at AC Flora High School.

With help from the National Guard, workers added sandbags to the sinkhole, in an effort to stop the growth. Coast Guard pumps were also used to move water over the dam.

from The State newspaper at 11pm Tuesday night

After speaking with state environmental agency officials, Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Richland, said it "looks more imminent'' that the Beaver Creek dam would fail at some point. Crews had been working furiously to relieve pressure on the dam so that it would not break.

Pic linkThis was at 2pm Tuesday --That's a big chunk of dam missing and notice it has the ultimate no-no's for a dam --road going over the top of it and trees growing on it.

This is the area in question:

Here's the current list as of 4:30 am est Wed Oct 7 2015 DHEC list of dam breaches.
3 in Lexington Co
6 in Richland Co inc the pending Beaver Creek Dam & todays Lake Elizabeth
1 in Lee County
1 in Aiken Co

11 total and they are closely watching at least 7 more but are not naming them.

Per The State

A sixth dam burst in Richland County at Lake Elizabeth on Hard Scrabble Road near Wilson Boulevard in North East Richland.

It breached around 5:30 pm Tuesday Oct 6,2015 and is on the list.

But for some reason DHEC's list does not include Kershaw Co. Fire Chief Ray's report tweet link with video of the loss of the "Getty's Pond Dam off Kellytown Rd-Green Hill Golf Course under water." which I believe contributed to the swift high water rescue attempts made later that evening detailed here on WIS10 in which the woman was saved but they couldn't get to the man in time. This was on the 25 mile creek watershed in Kershaw county. The breach was on or near Kellytown road around 2:30 pm and at 7:30 pm they were responding to reports of people swept away on Pine Grove rd (at or near the 25 mile creek bridge as I understand it??-don't know for sure), but that is directly downstream of the breach. I tried to find "Getty's Pond" on both my topo and google maps and all I could come up with was "Ralphs Pond" near Kellytown and the golf course.

This is what Pine Grove Road looks like now:

Man some people never learn--

FLORENCE COUNTY, SC (WMBF) – The Howe Springs Fire Department responded Tuesday after a vehicle drove around a barrier and ended up in washed out ditch on Old River Road in Florence County, according to Andrew Golden, PIO for Florence County Emergency Management Division. The two people got out of the vehicle and were not hurt, according to an official with HSFD.

Link

Old River Road is over by Effingham -one of the places in Florence county that got so much rain and parallels the Great Pee Dee River that I'm sure is well past flood stage by now.
Got to say though --first one I've seen that's caught fire!

Just a quick dash and run
This is just absolutely heartbreaking after what I learned from my cuz yesterday:
Horse Nation

Many boarders and volunteers have been attempting to get onto the farm today, and although thankfully the water levels are dropping some, this means that boats with motors no longer work and the only method is miles by kayak. As of 2:30pm [Tues -Oct 6] nobody has been able to make it to the horses. Yesterday they were rescued from shoulder high water and relocated thanks to brave efforts to elbow high water with hay available. There is absolutely no way to get them off the property until the water level drops. We have transportation, trailers, and available pastures lined up when the time comes.

Seems the lady in question, Hannah Bauchat, runs a small farm and works at the VCA Animal Hospital in Columbia, and shows/breeds Belgian Malinois (man what a dog!) as of Jan this year. Could not get a handle on where the farm was located other than in/around the Columbia area.

I would be absolutely beside myself 'bout now in panic mode.

Lost and found resources for pets: Lost and Found pets of SC face book page
Warning:tearjerker as is the one below.

More stories about pets: via Fox 5 Atlanta

Ok I have to stop now, I'm in tears, I'd be so lost without my 3 furry babies.

BTW - for the lost humans I think the toll is up to 14 or 15 as of last night --google it, I'm sure you can find info if you want--I just can't mentally do it right now.
Later

Ok I'm back and brother am I pissed.
THIS is what I've been referring to when I did research back in March this year on our dam issues.

Beaver Dam aka Boyd Pond #2 is the one that is in the posh $750k and up houses neighborhood.
I'm not sure who Doug Fisher is or what point he's referring to -I'm still chasing that down. While I do that I'll leave ya'll with links to my notes from my previous research back in March.

Safety of dam questioned in Arcadia Lakes
This is an article in The State newspaper dated Aug 30, 2012--they knew then they had problems--this is gonna come back and bite somebody on the ass but bigtime!! Coopers Pond is the lake they are referring to (from the 2013 Columbia Star article) -google doesn't show the name of the lake as "woods lake" or the name of all the lakes. (Similar issues with Beaver Creek listed as Boyds Pond??) Not sure what the out come of this particular meeting was -- but it clearly illustrates some of the political pissing contest going on around these lakes, and it was still going on in 2013

The Department of Health and Environmental Control ordered Arcadia Woods Lake drained two months ago [2012] after finding it was unsafe......But some Arcadia Woods Lake property owners say they don’t own the dam and can’t afford to pay to fix it.....Gaudi said repairing the dam is the responsibility of its owners, who don’t live on the lake.....the Arcadia Woods Lake owners group, questioned why the S.C. Department of Transportation isn’t responsible for some of the repairs. The DOT maintains a road running across the top of the dam, ......

From ]2013 Columbia Star -this is a great article with a lot of back history on the Arkadia Lakes squabble

Consequently, DHEC, Department of Transportation ( DOT), and the dam owners have been in legal turmoil significantly impacting the lives of the residents as well as the life of the lake and the wildlife it has supported.

1994 google newspaper archive from the Sumter Item about a cascade dam failure in Lexington CO

So you have HOA's, SCDOT, DHEC, absentee owners....now times that by how many other lakes/ponds just in Richland and Lexington Co...

From the first article:

DHEC has been criticized in the past for failing to inspect the state’s dams. South Carolina has more than 2,000 regulated dams. DHEC regulates the small ones. The agency has one of the lowest budgets in the country for the program.

Wanna talk $$? The most current info on This Association of State Dam Safety Officials page is from 2012

2012 State-regulated dams: 2380
High hazard potential: 162
Significant hazard potential: 463
Low hazard potential: 1755
State dam safety FTE's: 2.57
Total Budget: $105,081

FTE=full time equivalent personnel
So that's basically 2 FT & 1 PT DHEC inspector for for over 2380 dams = roughly 952 dams each -- or 317 per yr they need to inspect on a 3 yr rotation. That's close to 1 per day (365 days in year) 70 days over the normal gov 5 day work week 2 wk pd vac yr most state employees have.

Look at it another way: Budget in 2012: $105,081 --Just salary for 2.5 EE= $42k ea +/----what about gas, vehicle and vehicle maintenance for traipsing all over the state inspecting dams? Doesn't leave much wiggle room does it?

And then you've got this: Many Dams Are Not Subject To Inspection A 2009 PDF of a report from WYFF4 in Greenville.

since most dams in South Carolina (86 percent) are privately-owned, many receive no inspection at all......In 2005, the environmental group Upstate Forever commissioned a study on dams in the Saluda- Reedy Watershed. Group founder Brad Wyche was amazed by what the study found. "We found over 3,000 dams in this one watershed, and we found that only about 160 of those dams are subject to the state inspection program," ......

Now take that one watershed and multiply it by the # of watersheds in SC...mind boggling...

To complicate matters watchdog journalists could not get any info on the safety of the big dams b/c of the 911 paranoia. From the Society of Environmental Journalists (luv these guys!!) comes this just recently as Sep 23, 2015:NICAR To Publish Long-Suppressed National Inventory of Dams

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has for years suppressed full disclosure of the National Inventory of Dams (NID) — once a key tool for journalists reporting on dam safety — or the government's failure to ensure it. ..... is a database of some 87,000 dams in the United States, generally the larger and more significant ones.....The Corps is still withholding from the public some of the most important information concerning dam safety. ... information about the physical condition of the dam — whether leaky or strong. The database NICAR will publish will not have this information.

You have to sign on & give your email to access the data....I'm not willing to do that this point...but I would love to know the info they do have on the big dams.

And we all know Duke's safety record when it comes to inspecting their own dams --as in coal ash ponds.....can you say Dan River, NC?

I have to take another break. I'll be back later if I can to answer responses, questions et al.
Later

Mods -- If my language is a little too raw feel free to correct, other than the obvious I'm not sure what is ok w/T&C. -- Thanks for ya'lls support

YES! YES! YES!

I'm not sure who Doug Fisher is or what point he's referring to -I'm still chasing that down.

Doug Fisher is a Journalism Professor @USC in Columbia -- DEF a vetted source-- his twitter feed #dougfisher
his Oct 5 posts contain a wealth of info and links for anyone wanting more info on SC dams

The State article that was making his point: Floods, rain expose SC’s flawed dam safety program from yesterday Oct 6, 2015.

I'm still reading but just wanted to get that out there.