you can see our lake home. We are on high ground and our property is safe.
This picture was taken Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015.
This is Sawyer, Cliff and Lidia looking on as 4 gates are open to release water from the swollen lake. And you can see the water spilling over the sides of the Saluda River.
I took this picture of the dam, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015. You can see that 2 of the gates have been closed and the water level in the river has receded some.
This is being called a Historical 1000 Year Flood event in South Carolina.
At the time of this post, we are still flooded in South Carolina. The water is down in some areas and still causing problems in others. I woke up to news that there has been another evacuation ordered in Columbia because of a possible dam breach. The rivers downstream are still rising.
At the time of this post, there are nearly 300 roads and 166 bridges closed. There have been 18 dams breached. We are urged to stay off the roads. Rescue workers are still helping survivors and working to recover victims. To date there has been 16 deaths attributed to this historical flood event. There are people that have lost everything.
Cliff and I are still at the lake because our way home is through Columbia, the city that Interstate 26 runs through. Columbia has so many road closures, it would be difficult to find a way through. I-26 has had portions of it closed due to flooding and compromised bridges. Hwy 378, Garners Ferry Road, also our route home, was devastated.
I see the news reports and the pictures and videos, but since I can't see it with my own eyes, it doesn't feel real. I want to get home so badly. I want to see what is going on in my own community.
The pictures I'm posting below are not my own. They are pictures I've copied from Facebook or News Sites. I feel like it's important for us to remember such a historical water event....to remember the power of water and mother nature. Not only to remember this devastating event, but to remember God's grace and mercy. It could have been so much worse.
I leave you now with the pictures from around of state of South Carolina:
This is Lakewood. Our beach home is here...about 5 streets over.
Again, our home is on higher ground and we are okay.
This is Front St., Georgetown. I ran my first 5K and my first half-marathon on this very street. You can see the town clock near the upper right-hand side of the photo.
Columbia, SC
I believe this is from Charleston, SC. A few coffins have been rising up out of the ground.
I can't tell if this is I-26 or parts of Hwy 378, but you can see standing water causing road closures.
Not only are roads washed out and flooded, but trees have fallen across roads.
Railroads have been affected.
Columbia.
So many people have been affected. It's not over yet. I just heard from my sister in Andrews, our home town, that the river is still rising and friends are being evacuated by boat. The area across the river is cut off from town and people are running out of food.
Once again, please pray for SC.
Thank you!
Laurie
