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Obama declares state of emergency in South Carolina over floods
Obama declares state of emergency in South Carolina over floods
(about 4 hours later)
President Barack Obama on Saturday declared a state of emergency in South Carolina after severe storms caused widespread flooding, the White House said in a statement.
While spared the full fury of Hurricane Joaquin, parts of the US east coast still saw record-setting rain on Saturday that shut down roads, waterlogged crops and showed little sign of letting up.
Obama ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts and authorized federal agencies to coordinate disaster relief efforts, the statement said.
Much of the drenching was centered on the Carolinas, but coastal communities as far away as New Jersey were feeling the effects of unrelenting rainfall. Rain and flood warnings remained in effect for many parts of the east coast through Sunday.
Rain pummeling parts of the east coast showed little sign of slackening Saturday, with record-setting precipitation prolonging the soppy misery that has been eased only by news that the powerful hurricane Joaquin will not hit the US.
President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in South Carolina and ordered federal aid to help state and local efforts.
A flash flood warning was in effect in parts of South Carolina, where authorities shut down the Charleston peninsula to motorists.
Downtown Charleston was closed to incoming traffic as rain flooded roads and left some motorists stranded as flood waters engulfed their cars. At least two bridges were washed out in other parts of the state.
Several feet of water had caused vehicles to stall in downtown Charleston and water inundated some homes and buildings in the area. At least two to four additional inches of rain was expected. Barbara Vaughn, a Charleston city spokeswoman, said several people were rescued from stranded cars there.
“Where we normally are dealing with flooding for a few hours, we’re dealing with it in days here,” Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen said. “We’re seeing areas flood today that did not traditionally flood.”
The Charleston police department issued lists of dozens of street closings, and the city’s historic district was almost entirely shut down. Parts of the market area had sandbags piled up to keep the floodwaters out.
Several shelters were opened in coastal counties while health officials warned people not to swim or play in the flood waters. Inland areas of South Carolina also were battered by rain. In Columbia, which is in the middle of the state, business owners spent Saturday caulking and duct-taping windows and readying sandbags.
Charleston police chief Greg Mullen said officers were going door-to-door to advise residents to voluntarily evacuate areas that are at risk.
The Greenville-Spartanburg Airport in South Carolina recorded 2.3in of rain Saturday, smashing the previous record of 0.77in set in 1961, according to John Tomko, National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist at Greenville-Spartanburg.
“Where we normally are dealing with flooding for a few hours, we’re dealing with it in days here, so it’s going to be significantly different,” Mullen said. “It’s impacting much more of the city. We’re seeing areas flood today that did not traditionally flood.”
“This one is extraordinary in that it’s such a prolonged event,” he said.
Richard Cutler, of Charleston, was walking his dog, Bailey, through the floodwaters Saturday. He said his basement was flooded, and he was using everything he could to get the water out, including an aquarium pump. But he could not get out of Charleston to get to a hardware store and buy a sump pump.
In North Carolina, agriculture commissioner Steve Troxler said farmers were starting to see the impact of the continuous rain on their crops. Apples in Henderson County were starting to split open because they are waterlogged and farmers cannot get into the fields to harvest other crops.
The Greenville-Spartanburg Airport in South Carolina was hit with 2.3in of rain on Saturday, smashing the previous record of 0.77in set in 1961, according to John Tomko, National Weather Service meteorologist at Greenville-Spartanburg.
“I had one farmer tell me this is like getting all of your cash assets, put them on a clothesline, waiting for the wind to blow them away,” he said.
In Norfolk, North Carolina, Bernie Bohm took advantage of a break in the storm to pull his 19ft sailboat, Magic Morning, out of the Lafayette river before high tide approached, marking the first time he’s taken his boat out of the water since March. He said keeps his boat tied to a pier in his backyard and was worried Sunday’s high tides could cause it damage.
Flooded roads were closed throughout the mid-Atlantic region and power companies reported scattered outages in several states.
“It was just bouncing around too much,” Bohm said of Friday’s high tides, which caused flooding throughout Norfolk. “It’s going to tear into a pier or do whatever and get hurt some kind of way.”
In New Jersey, storms dislodged an entire house from its pilings in a low-lying area of Middle Township in southern Jersey. No one was in the residence.
Elsewhere, coastal flooding remained a threat, particularly in the Virginia Beach area and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The weather service issued a warning for residents living along the coast to be alert for rising water. A combination of high water and high waves could result in beach erosion and damage to docks and piers.
The NWS in Greenville, South Carolina, said “bursts of heavy rain are likely” in the Carolinas and parts of northern Georgia that could cause some rivers and streams to flood significantly. The rain levels had the potential to be “life threatening and historic,” the service said on its website.
The NWS in Greenville said that “bursts of heavy rain are likely” in the Carolinas and parts of northern Georgia that could cause rivers and streams in the region to flood significantly.
Once the rain ended, the threat of flooding would persist because the ground is too saturated to absorb water, meteorologists said. And high winds could bring down trees like the one that hit a vehicle near Fayetteville, North Carolina, killing a passenger.
The rain levels had the potential to be “life-threatening and historic”, the service said on its website.
Once the rain ends, the threat of flooding persists because the ground is too saturated to absorb water, meteorologists say. And high winds could bring down trees like the one that hit a vehicle near Fayetteville, North Carolina, killing a passenger.
The storm also has been linked to a drowning in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
The storm also has been linked to a drowning in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Flood watches and warnings also are in effect in Delaware and parts of New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.
Flood watches and warnings also are in effect in Delaware and parts of New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. The NWS issued a warning for residents living along the coast to be alert for rising water. A combination of high water and high waves could result in beach erosion and damage to docks and piers.
In New Jersey, storms dislodged an entire house from its pilings in a low-lying area of Middle Township. The remnants of the home could be seen in Grassy Sound after daybreak Saturday. The house was unoccupied.
Still, the Atlantic Seaboard was spared what could have been much worse damage had Hurricane Joaquin not continued on a path well off the US coast. And some people found ways to enjoy the wet weather.
Officials in southern Delaware were keeping a close eye on high tides that could exacerbate existing flooding of low-lying roads and properties. They said Saturday’s high tide cycles could be as high as those on Friday, which left standing water in low-lying coastal areas and led to several road closures.
Steven Capito spent the day surfing by the Ocean View Fishing Pier in Norfolk, Virginia, where 2-3ft waves crashed ashore. Ordinarily, he said waves from the Chesapeake Bay would barely lap his ankles.
Continued onshore winds, with gusts of up to 40mph, have kept the flood waters from receding, a problem that could last through the weekend.
“It’s kind of a fun novelty to be out here in the bay,” said Capito, who lives in Virginia Beach. “You only get to do it a couple of times a year and it’s nice and warm.”
Officials in Ocean City, Maryland, say there’s been minimal damage to the resort town despite significant tidal flooding and powerful winds gusting up to 45mph.
The Carolinas will probably get the worst of it, including possible landslides in the mountains, experts said. South Carolina could get more rain in three days than it normally gets during the entire fall.
“It’s going to be a slow-motion disaster,” said meteorologist Ryan Maue of Weather Bell Analytics.
The rains have had a limited impact on power. A Duke Energy map showed power outages scattered across its coverage areas in North and South Carolina. Charlotte reported the most outages with more than 8,700 customers without electricity by midday Saturday.
Hurricane Joaquin, no longer seen as a danger to the Atlantic Seaboard, continued Friday on a path expected to keep it well off the US coast.
“It looks like we dodged a bullet this time,” New Jersey governor Chris Christie said amid street flooding at the Jersey shore, devastated by superstorm Sandy nearly three years ago.
Forecasters warned that even as Joaquin peels away from the coast, its effects will be felt, because it will continue supplying tropical moisture to the gusty rainstorm stretching from Georgia to New England.
