Catching Up - Thousand Year Flood

In early October we weathered the historic "Thousand Year Flood" that devastated so much of South Carolina. The term "thousand year flood" does not mean this only happens once in a thousand years. It actually refers to the statistical probability of a storm like this occurring during the year. But still - it was really, really bad.

We got stuck in the middle of a strange weather pattern, where a line of strong storms just kept building and moving through the same area dumping feet of rain on us for days on end. It started like a normal rain storm, with consistent heavy precipitation. People predicted it was going to be a big deal, but we didn't realize how bad it might be.

I remember waking up around 3:45 am on Sunday, October 4th and hearing incredibly heavy rain pounding against the side of the house. James and I got up and peeked out the windows and were alarmed to see that the level of our pond out back had risen dramatically and was beginning to flood the back yards of our neighbors across the water. Needless to say, we had a hard time sleeping through the gale. At six am I finally couldn't take it and got up. The water was continuing to rise and all of the local weather agencies were declaring a state of emergency as there was no end to the downpour in sight. I didn't know how long our clean water and power might last. (The cable went out for a while that morning which didn't bode well.) So I went into emergency preparedness-mode and started gathering flashlights and matches, clean water, first aid supplies, etc. We started filling coolers with ice while preparing enough food to feed us for a few days if we lost power or (heaven forbid) had to move upstairs because the lower level of our house flooded. By that time, the water was so high on the street outside that we didn't think we could safely leave. And anyway... where would we go? Everyone else had it just as bad, if not worse.

The street out in front of our house

Our view out the back

 Thankfully, we were fortunate. The water level stopped rising later on Sunday afternoon and never came any closer to our house than our back fence line. But there were many, many others who were not so fortunate. After receiving 18-26" of rain in one weekend, there was A LOT of damage. Roads were washed away, dams burst, houses and businesses were flooded, vehicles lost. Much of the State was under a boil-water advisory for days afterward since the flooding messed with the sewers and plumbing. Another couple in the 79th FS were out of town for the weekend and came home to find that both of their vehicles had been swept away and their entire house was underwater. They lost everything! Below are a couple of images from the local area I pulled off of social media. You can see how there are houses about a 5 minute drive from here that were just sitting in water. It took weeks for many of the roads and bridges to be repaired after all the damage.

This was taken on HWY 521, just a little north of us

 It was also humbling and inspiring seeing how everyone banded together to support those in need. People took homeless neighbors in, we donated food and clothing and anything else they might need to get back on their feet. Teams from our church, and many others, worked to help gut and clean out homes that were destroyed in the flooding, and to care for those dealing with this sudden, devastating loss.

I'm so thankful that we were largely unharmed by the flood. It was certainly inconvenient having to boil our water for a week. But it could have been so much worse. Thanks to all those who were praying for us in the middle of the crisis! We appreciate it.