After a large amount of rainfall from Hurricane Joaquin, South Carolina streets, homes and businesses flooded early this month.
According to the Associated Press, more than 300 roads are still closed in the Columbia area, and more than 18 dams have failed since the beginning of October. Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin spoke on Oct. 5, addressing the damage that had accumulated.
“Eventually the floods will abate, but we had to assess the damage…damage will probably be in the billions of dollars, and we’re going to rebuild,” Benjamin said. “Some peoples’ lives as they know them will never be the same.”
Junior Olivia Cook said her family, who lives in Summerville, South Carolina, evacuated their home last week.
“My parents knew the hurricane was coming,” Cook said. “Thankfully, they could move most of our stuff from downstairs, upstairs.”
Cook said that her family had a few hours to prepare for the storm during the day, but that night, they watched the floodwaters rise.
“We live right on the water,” Cook said. “They just watched (the water) come up. Now, our entire downstairs is under water.”
Cook said that the drywall, carpet, flooring and cabinets need to be replaced in her house, but she said the important thing is that her family evacuated safely.
“Since we live on the coast, lots of people own boats,” Cook said. “My dad’s friend drove his boat over and evacuated my family.”
Junior Rochelle Kellis said her family was not evacuated, but water covered their lawn.
“There was a curfew in our town and schools were canceled for most of the week,” Kellis said. “Lots of parts of my town were severely affected, though.”
Senior Patrick Miller said that although his home was not damaged, his family’s day-to-day life was. Miller said that his home is about 20 minutes from the major flooding, but most of the area has still been affected.
“The biggest hassle that the flooding caused my family is that my mom and sister were unable to go to work for a few days,” Miller said. “They both work… downtown where the flooding was the worst in the Charleston area.”
According to the AP, the floodwaters caused major damage to a canal connected to the water supply for the city. The city of Columbia was put under a boil water advisory, but the advisory was lifted last Sunday, Oct. 11. The city is continuing to repair the damages to the breach that tainted the water.
