NewsNational News

Actions

23 dramatic photos of the historic South Carolina floods

Posted at 10:39 AM, Oct 05, 2015
and last updated 2015-10-05 10:39:26-04

COLUMBIA, South Carolina — This is the kind of deluge that might happen only once every 1,000 years. South Carolina is grappling with historic flooding that has led to several deaths, shut down interstates and sent search crews scrambling to rescue those trapped by rising waters.

“This is an incident we’ve never dealt with before,” Gov. Nikki Haley said.

The hardest-hit swath of South Carolina stretches from the capital city of Columbia, right in the middle of the state, all the way to the coast, from Georgetown down to Charleston.

On Sunday, Columbia endured its rainiest day in history, according to the National Weather Service. And much of Charleston was pummeled by two feet of rainfall.