AMU Emergency Management Public Safety

South Carolina Floods: Aftermath and Recovery

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Thanksgiving 2015 marked two months since historic rainfall over South Carolina caused widespread flooding and damage across the state.

The worst flooding in South Carolina history?

Flooding began after storms from the weekend of October 3, 2015 brought up to two feet of rain to various parts of the region. At least [link url=”http://thetandd.com/news/state-and-regional/south-carolina-s-share-of-b-in-flood-damage-is/article_0fbbe862-c84c-53b8-b18f-f9cbdff408f9.html” title=”nineteen people died in South Carolina“] and at least 540 roads and bridges were closed due to the unprecedented rains.

Call it a 500-year flood

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said that storms resulted in what can be termed a [link url=”http://water.usgs.gov/floods/events/2015/Joaquin/HolmesQA.html” title=”500-year flood“]. More specifically, the USGS said that the rainfall itself was a 1000-year rainstorm, with 500-year flood consequences.

Storm total rainfall graphic from the record-breaking event

FEMA deadline extension

FEMA recently [link url=”http://counton2.com/2015/12/01/fema-extends-south-carolinas-disaster-assistance-application-deadline/” title=”extended South Carolina’s disaster assistance application deadline“], giving state residents until January 3, 2016 to register for assistance. Governor Nikki Haley requested the extra 30 days.

Economic impact: 12 billion

Economists placed an overall cost of [link url=”http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article47471060.html” title=”$12 billion on the floods“]. This estimated cost brings the magnitude of these storms on par with [link url=”http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article47471060.html” title=”Hurricane Hugo in 1989“].

According to [link url=”http://thetandd.com/news/state-and-regional/south-carolina-s-share-of-b-in-flood-damage-is/article_0fbbe862-c84c-53b8-b18f-f9cbdff408f9.html” title=”The State“], the total bill for flood damage is around $1.2 billion so far:

  • $114 million from South Carolina taxpayers for recovery
  • $181 million in insurance claims to private companies
  • $500 million from the federal government for road repair
  • $375 million in direct damage to agriculture

Agriculture

NPR recently detailed how [link url=”http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/01/457974642/s-c-farmers-burdened-by-catastrophic-rainfall-crop-losses” title=”South Carolina farmers are now burdened with severe crop losses“] in the aftermath of the storms and resulting floods. According to the report, farming accounts for 10 percent of South Carolina jobs, and many farmers will have the worst crop losses ever as a result of the floods.

[link url=”http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2015-11-28/no-damage-estimate-yet-8-weeks-after-south-carolina-floods-roads-getting-fixed” title=”A dry summer damaged part of the corn crop“], and then the floods wiped out peanuts, cotton and various other crops typically harvested in the fall. Some farms were literally [link url=”http://www.rfdtv.com/story/30502171/floods-devastated-south-carolina-farms#.Vl4Ukd-rSCQ” title=”turned into ponds“].

Bridges and Roads

As of December 1, 2015, [link url=”http://thetandd.com/news/state-and-regional/south-carolina-s-share-of-b-in-flood-damage-is/article_0fbbe862-c84c-53b8-b18f-f9cbdff408f9.html” title=”fewer than 70 bridges and roads remain closed“] and [link url=”http://thetandd.com/news/state-and-regional/south-carolina-s-share-of-b-in-flood-damage-is/article_0fbbe862-c84c-53b8-b18f-f9cbdff408f9.html” title=”26 roads/bridges may not be able to be fixed“] because they run over damaged dams.

Overall, [link url=”http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2015-11-28/no-damage-estimate-yet-8-weeks-after-south-carolina-floods-roads-getting-fixed” title=”repairs to South Carolina roads are ahead of schedule“]. The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) reopened 136 road closures by November 26, which was [link url=”http://info.scdot.org/PressRelease/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=2181″ title=”12 more than the 124 it had originally estimated“] by that date.

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