NEWBERRY COUNTY — The effects of the historic rainfall can still be felt across the state three days since a state of emergency was declared for South Carolina.
As of press time Tuesday, the total number of weather-related fatalities statewide was 14.
Interim Police Chief Roy McClurkin attended a meeting Monday afternoon to insure that the town is conducting its operations in the most effective way possible.
“The meeting was concerning the cooperation between the agencies that were involved throughout this whole event. Just coming together and seeing if there’s anything new we could have done or anything better we could have improved on. Everything seemed to have went seamlessly,” said McClurkin.
Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster wanted to draw special attention to the people who volunteered their services to the relief effort.
“If we had not had volunteer and rescue workers out to cut trees out of the road we would still have trouble today,” Foster said of the crews’ efforts on Sunday. “They did a miraculous job in horrible weather. By 6 p.m. 98 percent of the trees were out of the roadways.”
Gov. Nikki Haley has been updating the public in daily press conferences.
“First of all I just want to tell you that God smiled on South Carolina because the sun is out. That is a good sign,” Haley said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon. “We still have to be cautious the next 36 to 48 hours.”
The reason for the sustained caution is that as water continues to flow to the Atlantic Ocean from tributaries in the higher elevations Upstate, the threat of flooding in the Midlands and Lowcountry remains very real, Haley said.
Currently there are 26 shelters across the state that are housing over 800 people who were ordered to evacuate their homes. This number is expected to rise.
In an act that Haley called “extremely rare,” a verbal request was made on Monday to the federal government for a Major Disaster Declaration, which was accepted not long after.
“Rather than waiting to do the paperwork, which we are drafting now, we went ahead and did a verbal request which allows (federal aid) to come faster,” Haley said.
The verbal request was followed by a phone call from President Barack Obama.
“He was extremely gracious and kind. He and Mrs. Obama expressed their concerns and their prayers for the people of South Carolina, and also said that they were there to assist,” said Haley.
Early Tuesday morning Haley flew over the state to begin assessing damages.
“What I saw was disturbing. And it is hard to look at the loss we are going to have,” said Haley.
The state is still in the process of transitioning from “response” to “assessment” mode so there is no estimate as to the scale of the total damage caused by the flooding.
A press release issued Tuesday by the Newberry County Disaster Preparedness Agency urged all citizens to “exercise extreme caution when traveling as many roads and bridges are still closed.”
The release further warned people to not attempt to circumvent traffic barriers, even if roads appear fine.
“These barricades indicate that roads have not been evaluated for damage or have been closed due to circumstances that make them unstable,” the release stated.