I hope our members in Columbia SC didn't suffer flooding! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

vstech · #1 10-06-2015, 12:46 AM

I'm amazed at the news of flooding in SC. I hope Jay_Bob and Grezzer are ok!

Skid Row Joe · #2 10-06-2015, 12:52 AM

Ditto!

greazzer · #3 10-06-2015, 07:41 AM

I'm lucky. No flooding for me personally. Living on a hill / high ground has its benefits. I feel for those living in Forest Acres and surrounding areas-- water chest deep. That's less than a 20 minute drive from me. Those houses are most likely toast. Hope Jay Bob is OK because Lake Carolina area may have gotten some flooding. He's about 10 minutes from me.

jay_bob · #4 10-06-2015, 08:00 AM

We are all ok here, I'm up high (about 75 ft) above the spillway level of our lake and at the upstream end. Our soil here is 100% sand so it drains really well.

The flooding that happened with Lake Carolina was minor and temporary. I do not think any homes were affected here.

All the bad stuff is about 10 miles or so southwest of where Greazzer and I live. A network of old dams that built a series of neighborhood lakes started having cascading failures. There are a bunch of old (built in the 50s to 70s) neighborhoods in the old high dollar section of Columbia that are wiped out. Some of the nicest areas in Columbia.

And the other big deal is the water system. Columbia City has 2 treatment plants. The original that is right on the junction of the Broad, Saluda, and Congaree (we are the other 3 river city) pulls its intake water from an 1800s era canal that paralleled the river. There is a big break in the canal wall below the treatment plant so even though the river level is high at present they are worried about once the river level falls they will lose their intake. I heard they were bringing in Chinooks today to begin filling the gap with giant sand bags.

Also where there are road washouts in the affected areas mentioned above, this creates a pressure drop on the system. This water plant mainly feeds downtown, USC, and the major hospitals, and the areas south and east of downtown, where the worst flooding is.

The second plant is on the shores of Lake Murray (large Army Corps lake northwest of downtown, formed by the Saluda) and it is fine. The north end of Columbia is fed from this plant so there are no water issues on our end.

They are telling us to boil water city wide. I suspect that is so that it is easier to tell everyone that if you have a city meter then you should boil. And there is a tie line between the two plants, so the systems could possibly be cross contaminated. That is our only inconvenience from all of this, so we are quite fortunate.

greazzer · #5 10-06-2015, 09:22 AM

The Windsor Lake dam just gave way according to the news a few minutes ago. This could impact significantly Alpine Road and south, e.g., Woodfield Park, et cet area. Good bye Little Pigs BBQ? This is the vicinity where I bought my first house in Columbia in 1995, in the Woodfield Park area.

greazzer · #6 10-06-2015, 09:25 AM

I know CFMacT1 is OK -- heard from him last night.

Any word on Wilson?

Phillip (TwoTankPhilley) left Garners Ferry Road area a few years ago so he really lucked out.

tbomachines · #7 10-06-2015, 09:30 AM

Good luck with everything guys...hope everyone is alright.

Sent from an abacus

greazzer · #8 10-06-2015, 09:47 AM

News Correction from RCSD: Windsor Lake Dam did not break. Little Pigs BBQ is apparently OK ...

No word from Willis ??? PM'd him and no response.

There's about 6 of us on this forum who live in Cola. vicinity. It's really the folks who live towards downtown that got hit hard.

Dan Stokes · #9 10-06-2015, 11:02 AM

Wilmington got a fair amount but we're OK even though we're about 16-18 feet above sea level. Our ditch was full to the top (probably 3 feet) and spilled over a little onto the lawn but no damage at all. We got a break on Saturday with clear skies and sunshine so we have some drying out before it hit again on Sunday and Monday. So far depressing but no actual damage in our part of town.

Topsail Island to the NE and Myrtle Beach to the SW both had serious damage so Wilmington really got off light right in the middle of this. Our best to those folks and of course Greazzer's neighbors.

Dan

cooljjay · #10 10-06-2015, 02:23 PM

Its been raining here for the last three days.....been a little odd....thinking winter is coming early.....Haven't checked to see if anyone else has been killed in flash floods but a few weeks ago 25 people died around here....Lots of death from flash flooding....

Just wait until California gets rain, with all those fires, imagine there will be lots of mudslides and what not...

Really crazy to hear about that dam giving way!!

vstech · #11 10-06-2015, 06:26 PM

Another dam is being reported to have failed just now...
That's 11 total so far...

Yuuuuuck.

Dan Stokes · #12 10-06-2015, 09:38 PM

One dam failed in the North Myrtle Beach/Little River area and flooded US17. Evidently that got fixed as they said the road is open again. So out of the 11 that failed I don't know how many are still kaput. Either way, I hope everyone is well and dry.

Dan

jay_bob · #13 10-07-2015, 08:36 AM

They had a big scare last night/this morning with yet another dam.

This one is at the head of the chain that is giving all the trouble.

My alert radio went off at 6:45 am telling everyone to get out below the dam.

Fortunately they had already dispatched about 20 trucks of rip rap and they were able to drop them into the washed out area and stop the erosion.

As of right now the situation appears to be stabilizing.

My biggest concern is for those downstream, all the water that is currently in Columbia has to get to the ocean.

Many of the areas down below Columbia before you get to Charleston are very economically depressed and there are a lot of people living on a shoe string down there.

There are several of the small towns that have been effectively cut off from civilization by loss of utilities and blocked roads.