'I have never seen so much water in my life.' Edisto River approaches record flood levels
- Jessica Wade
- Aug 20, 2024
- 5 min read
Published: Aug. 10, 2024 (shared byline)
Segina Canty burst into tears as she made her way through the waist-deep waters surrounding her parents’ home off Augusta Highway. She waded past her family's antique Mustang, mostly submerged.
"I don't care about the car," she said to a family member before heading back inside to grab family photos.
A rescue team helped evacuate her brother, who has multiple sclerosis, earlier that morning. Canty decided to stay behind for a bit longer.
"I don't even know what to save," she said. "I have never seen so much water in my life."
The Edisto River near Givhans Ferry hit a major flood stage Friday afternoon — earlier than previously forecast. It surpassed 17 feet Saturday afternoon — a half foot shy of the record set in 1925. River water inundated properties and roads in Colleton and Dorchester counties. Officials also are monitoring the Ashley River at Cooke Crossroads, which hit 24.74 feet Saturday morning, exceeding its previous record of 22.7 feet set in 2021.
Dorchester County issued an evacuation for some of the 322 residents living near the Edisto River. It urged others to prepare to relocate as the river continues to swell. The county started warning residents of river flooding threats on Aug. 7. Colleton County Fire-Rescue urged those east of Stokes Bridge and south of Givhans to the Camp Buddy community to evacuate.
The river, which surpassed its expected peak of 17 feet, could go higher, causing more damage to homes in the area and making many roads impassable through at least Aug. 14., Charleston meteorologist Blair Holloway said.
"It's not going to dissipate overnight," Dorchester County spokesperson Michelle Mills said, adding the county expects more than 50 water rescues to take place.
Dorchester County opened Summerville Community Seventh-Day Adventist Church (520 Gahagan Rd) and St. George Middle School (600 Minus St.) as emergency shelters for Dorchester and Colleton County residents.
“It is crucial for residents to have an emergency plan in place and essential items prepared in case evacuation becomes necessary,” a press release stated.
Essential items may include medications, enough water and non-perishable food for family members for a few days, supplies for pets, childcare items, flashlights with batteries, important documents such as birth certificates, social security cards, drivers licenses, passports, titles and deeds to homes and property, and items of sentimental value such as family photos. Check South Carolina Emergency Management Division for a more complete list.
Some residents along the overflowing river are hesitant to leave.
Rescues and response
Christopher Chilcote was wading into the water surrounding his business off of Augusta Highway when his phone rang with an emergency alert strongly urging an evacuation. He pushed a bright orange kayak into the Rivers Edge Feed Store in Colleton County.
His main focus was getting his feed supply to dry ground, an effort neighbors assisted with. He said on Aug. 10 that he had no intention of evacuating and thinks many others will stay put.
"I think people are worried about looting," Chilcote said.
But safety concerns as flooding worsens are greater, Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lt. Rick Carson said, noting Dorchester police will patrol evacuated areas for as long as it's safe to do so.
A few miles down the road from where Canty and her brother were rescued, Windsong Farm was taking on water as the Barr family moved their horses to higher ground before heading out to help neighbors like Chilcote.
The horse farm fared better than others in the area on Saturday morning. Still, Madison Barr said she had never seen the water so high on her family's 18-acre property. The safety of the animals, including horses, dogs, chickens and a colony of cats, was the family’s priority. Later that afternoon, water submerged a cemetery next to Canaan United Methodist Church in Ridgeville.
"We'll probably hold water a little while, until the river itself goes down," Barr said.
Mike Garner has lived near Sullivans Ferry Road in Dorchester County since 1989. His home, like many in the area, sits near the bank of the Edisto. It’s not uncommon to see people wandering the dry river bed during a drought, Garner said.
And during a flood, the low lying area becomes easily inundated, damaging homes and potentially stranding dozens of families.
Garner was unbothered by the water creeping into his backyard Aug. 10. The home he and his wife built by hand was on high enough ground to avoid the rising waters.
"We're just going to stay right here," Garner said.
The Edisto River is expected to stay above a major flood stage through most of next week. The area from Canadys to Highway 17 will remain inundated with floodwater, causing extensive damage to ground-level homes and closing portions of Parkers Ferry Road, Camp Buddy Road and Wire Road. Many homes along the river will only be accessible by boat, Holloway said.
"We'll be right around the third highest water level measured at that given site," he said. River levels are a foot higher than levels during the 1,000-Year Flood event in October 2015, when the river reached 16.06 feet, Holloway said.
Recovery and delays
In areas without a high risk of river flooding, people are cleaning up from Tropical Storm Debby, which dumped up to 20 inches of rain on the region since Monday, Aug. 5. The last remnants of Debby poured an additional nine inches on the tri-county area on the morning of Aug. 9, leading to flash flooding that prompted 40 water rescues in Berkeley County.
Berkeley County scaled back emergency operations Aug. 10. Many areas in the county remain flooded, and several roads are still closed. The county asks residents to not drive around barricades, or remove them. Berkeley County School District delayed the start of the school year to Aug. 15.
Berkeley County Water and Sanitation crews repaired damage to the water line in the Briddleford Ridge neighborhood in Ladson, between Stroberfield Branch and Limehouse Branch. The boil water advisory lifted Aug. 11.
Over the next few days, Berkeley County residents will see crews surveying the extent of damage and going door-to-door.
Residents and businesses that experienced storm-related structural damage are encouraged to report it using the county’s online form or via the Citizen Call Line at 843-719-4800 and leave a detailed message.
At Edisto Beach, residents and business owners are recovering from the tornado that touched down as a result of Tropical Storm Debby on Aug. 5.
The Food Lion at Edisto Beach reopened on Aug. 10 but had to throw away all refrigerated food since power outages exceeded three hours. The only grocery store in town, it was forced to shut down for a few days after the tornado knocked over power lines and blew the store’s sign up the street.
The tornado also badly damaged Skip Sanders’s restaurant, Coot’s Bar & Grill, obliterating about 200 square feet of roofing and ripping out the gutters with people still inside. But it didn’t break his spirit, he said.
On Aug. 10, he was busy repairing the building with the the goal of serving seafood within a few days, he said.
“We just get through it,” he said. “If it’s broke around here, we fix it.”
Such is the good-natured attitude of this business owner on Edisto Beach — a frequent victim of intense storms. Sanders said he knew the beachfront location came with risks when he bought the building in 2017. That same year, tropical storm Irma walloped the area. The year before, Hurricane Matthew caused widespread damage.
Debby continued the pattern. But, Sanders reasoned, “it could have been a lot worse.”
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