COLUMBIA, S.C. – A dangerous rainstorm drenching the East Coast brought more misery Sunday to South Carolina – cutting power to thousands, forcing hundreds of water rescues and closing scores of roads because of floodwaters.
Emergency management officials sent a statewide alert telling people to stay off roads and remain indoors unless their homes were in danger of flooding. Interstate highways were closed by flooding – including a 75-mile stretch of I-95 in the eastern part of the state that is a key route connecting Miami to Washington, D.C. and New York.
Nearly 30,000 customers were without power.
The region around the state capital of Columbia was hit the hardest Sunday, with the city’s police department tweeting: “Too many roads to name that are flooded. Please heed our warning! DO NOT venture out!”
At least six weather-related deaths have been reported since rains began spreading over the Eastern Seaboard, which appeared to dodge the full fury of Hurricane Joaquin, which is veering out to sea.
The latest death to be reported was a driver who died on a rain-slickened road after his car crossed the center line on a state road in western North Carolina on Saturday, according to the state Highway Patrol.
High winds toppled a tree that hit a vehicle and killed a passenger Thursday near Fayetteville, North Carolina. Three people died in separate weather-related traffic accidents in South Carolina on Friday and Saturday, the Highway Patrol said. A drowning in Spartanburg, South Carolina, also was linked to the storm.
Along South Carolina’s coast, Charleston County 911 operators received 300 calls for assistance in a two-hour period Saturday night. Two mobile home parks in North Charleston were evacuated because rising floodwaters forced crews to cut off the electricity.
The downtown Charleston peninsula, which includes the city’s historic district, has been reopened on a limited basis for residents and business owners after it was closed to incoming traffic Saturday.
