Flood waters covered these mailboxes Wednesday along Happiness Lane in Colleton County on the Edisto River near Givhans Ferry. You can see more flood-related photos in this post. Photo courtesy Meagan Chaplin, Walterboro, S.C.
IN THIS ISSUENEWS: Flooding continues across South Carolina
QUICKPOLL: Majority wants to increase gas tax
HELP: Some ways you can help flood victims
COMMENTARY: Stop shortchanging Palmetto State
SPOTLIGHT: Time Warner Cable
MY TURN, Boyd Brown: The best of S.C. comes out during disaster
FEEDBACK: Send us your letters
SCORECARD: Thumbs up to aid workers, North Charleston
NUMBER: 11,000,000,000,000
QUOTE: Why flooding shouldn’t be a surprise
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Congaree River
Flooding continues across South Carolina
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher
OCT. 9, 2015 | Rivers along coastal South Carolina remain at dangerously-high levels well above flood stage as trillions of gallons of water make their way toward the ocean, but most appear to have reached crests, according to National Weather Service data.
Disaster assistance recovery centers are open in Columbia at the Irmo Branch library (6251 St. Andrews Road, Columbia) and in Lexington at the main library ( 5440 Augusta Road).
- For information on disaster assistance, go online to DisasterAssistance.gov or call 800-621-3362.
Water continued to rise on the Santee River. At 11 a.m. today, the Santee River near Jamestown was at 20.19 feet, just over double of flood stage. The river is expected to crest at 22.8 feet Sunday morning.
Also rising is the Little Pee Dee River near Gallivants Ferry. Gauges recorded the river at 8.85 feet today at 11 a.m., just under the 9-foot flood stage. The river is expected to crest Sunday night at 9.4 feet.
Meanwhile, water levels appeared to be dropping at several still-flooded coastal rivers:
- Edisto: The river at Givhans Ferry on the Dorchester-Colleton county line was just over 15.9 feet at 10 a.m. today. Originally projected to crest Saturday at 16.4 feet, projections show it may have crested yesterday at 16.06 feet. Flood level is 10 feet. A major flood is considered to be water at 15 feet. The river is not expected to drop below 15 feet until Tuesday.
- Pee Dee: The river at Pee Dee was 22.7 feet today at 11 a.m., just under Thursday night’s crest of 22.8 feet Flood state is 19 feet, which the river is expected to return to by Wednesday.
- Congaree: South of Columbia near the Carolina Eastman plant, the Congaree River, which was 11.5 feet above flood level on Monday, had dropped to 114.9 feet by today, just under flood stage, which is 115 feet.
- Waccamaw: Near Conway, the river was at 16 feet, just under the 16.1 foot crest on Thursday. The record is 17.8 feet. Anything over 11 feet is considered a flood.
- Black River: The river crested at 22.65 feet Tuesday in Kingstree. Today, it’s at 17.3 feet. Flood stage is considered 12 feet, which is where the river is expected to be Monday.
- Lynches River: The river, more than five feet above the 14-foot flood stage at Effingham on Tuesday, was at 16.4 feet at 10 a.m. today. It is expected to drop below flood stage by Tuesday.
On Thursday afternoon, Charleston County leaders this afternoon asked people who live near the Edisto and Santee rivers to evacuate due to rising waters.
“The areas likely to be impacted by the Edisto River include but are not limited to Parkers Ferry Road in Adams Run, Highway 17 near the Charleston/Colleton County line, portions of Jacksonboro,” according to a news release. “The likely impacted areas of the Santee River include South Santee and Germantown. The severity of the flooding will likely vary from one location to another.”
- To view more Columbia-area photos from drone footage shot Tuesday by Nelson Aerial Pros, click here. We appreciate the company’s permission to republish them.
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
Overwhelming majority says increase gas tax for roads
A new Statehouse Report QuickPoll shows more than 90 percent of readers want an increase in the state’s gasoline tax to pay for billions of dollars of needed maintenance for roads and bridges.
According to the survey, answered by 240 readers since Monday, only 10 percent said the tax should not be increase or nothing done to the $40 billion in road and bridge maintenance needs over the next 25 years, as identified by the federal government. With the past week’s flooding that washed away some roads and stressed hundreds of already-deficient bridges, South Carolinians have been focusing on funding needs for current and future needs. Results:
- 43 percent of those who took the survey said the tax per gallon should be raised 20 cents, which would generate about $678 million annually in new revenue.
- 33.8 percent said to raise it 10 cents a gallon, which would add $340 million in new revenues to state coffers.
- 12.5 percent said to raise the user fee by $1 per gallon, which would generate about $3.3 billion every year.
- 7 percent said “hell no” to increasing the gas tax.
- 3 percent said to do nothing.
How you can help flood victims
United Way of South Carolina President Tim Ervolina earlier this week wrote an impassioned “My Turn” column that related touching stories of people helping people in the week’s floods.
“Right now, at this intersection of crisis and compassion, our state is responding like never before to feed, clothe, comfort and shelter those who have nothing,” he wrote.
He also asked for people to help through the United Way, which has established regional flood recovery funds to help victims:
- For the Tri-county area: http://www.tuw.org/floodrecovery
- For the Midlands: https://uwmidlands.wufoo.com/forms/flood-disaster-relief-fund/
- For Williamsburg and Georgetown counties: https://uwmidlands.wufoo.com/forms/flood-relief-fund-black-river-united-way/
- For Clarendon, Sumter and Lee counties: https://uwmidlands.wufoo.com/forms/flood-relief-fundsumter-clarendon-and-lee-county/
You can also help by volunteering. More: getconnected.uwasc.org/drm.
COMMENTARYStop shortchanging South Carolina
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher
OCT. 9, 2015 — South Carolinians have to get over the cheapskate model of democracy. To do otherwise is to continue to fail our future.
Billions of dollars of underinvestment in roads, bridges and health care over recent years leaves the state at the mercy of disasters of one sort or another.
Just witness the 11 trillion gallons of rain over the last week that flooded rivers, burst dams, destroyed homes, upended lives and killed at least 17 people.
If there ever is a teaching moment for state legislators, the flood illustrates how South Carolina must invest in her infrastructure and people. To do otherwise is to sentence our children to a future that mimics a continuing past of dysfunction and misery.
The state’s record in recent years is embarrassing:
Roads. State lawmakers started 2015 knowing that South Carolina has more than $40 billion in road and bridge maintenance needs over the next 25 years. Various plans were drafted and discussed about investing in infrastructure needs, but they got caught in the continuing babble of politics and bickering, despite the fact that a broad majority wants to raise taxes — yes, raise taxes — to pay the piper. But nothing was done. As a result, there’s no new revenue stream now to help pay for the mess caused by the flood.
Education. State lawmakers have underfunded public schools by $3 billion over the last 7 years by not following state law to fund education at established per-pupil levels. Such cuts rob students of their futures and create what one analyst has called a permanent underclass that will continue until the state is willing to dig itself out of the problem. More troubling: Even with a court-ordered deadline to come up with a legislative solution to create a more equitable education funding system, legislators are complaining about the deadline, not worrying about the problem.
Health care. State lawmakers continue to refuse billions of dollars of federal aid to expand Medicaid funding to provide access to Obamacare for 200,000 poor citizens who don’t make enough money to get federal subsidies. Refusing federal aid for the flood of health problems among the state’s poor makes absolutely no sense when contrasted against televised coverage of Gov. Nikki Haley with her hand out to the federal government, ecstatic for federal flood aid.
South Carolina’s leaders seem to have missed the lesson at school about the common good — that the state has a broad responsibility to provide for the general welfare of all people by setting policies that benefit society as a whole. This fundamental idea that stretches to Aristotle is a bulwark of democracy, a guiding principle in our Constitution that should trump selfish, political sorties designed to maximize the private good for individuals and corporations.
“The common good is the basis for democracy and sustaining the common good is the basis for sustaining democracy,” the Riley Institute’s Don Gordon observed this week. “The founding fathers knew that.”
For too long, the leaders of this state have been cutting government services and cutting revenue streams to fund remaining services in a third-rate, banana-republic drama to realize the Norquistian dream of shrinking government to a size that it can drown in a bathtub.
But as South Carolinians realized this week when flood waters rose to unprecedented levels, government has a vital role in keeping our society civil.
Thank goodness for first responders, police, firefighters and others who are steering rescue and recovery operations. They are from the government.
Thank goodness for federal aid — the same kind of “common good” aid that most of South Carolina’s congressional delegation voted against after Hurricane Sandy. That help is fueled by a little bit of money that all of us pay toward the common good and make sure money is available for help when it’s needed.
Let’s pray we never need a natural disaster like the Great Flood of 2015 to remind state leaders of their responsibilities of looking out for the long-term common good by investing in infrastructure, education and health care. There’s no education in the second kick of a mule.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report. Send feedback to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
IN THE SPOTLIGHTTime Warner Cable
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Statehouse Report to you at no cost. Today, we’re happy to shine the spotlight on Time Warner Cable. The company’s Carolina Region provides video, Internet and telephone services to more than two million customers in more than 400 cities and towns across North and South Carolina. Time Warner Cable is the second-largest cable operator in the U.S., with technologically advanced, well-clustered systems located in New York State, the Carolinas, Ohio, southern California and Texas.
The company’s mission: Connect people and businesses with information, entertainment and each other; give customers control in ways that are simple and easy.
- For more, visit Time Warner Cable online here: http://www.timewarnercable.com.
The best of South Carolina comes out during disaster
By Boyd Brown, special to Statehouse Report
OCT. 9, 2015 | It has been amazing to witness the best of South Carolina rise above the dark waters which flooded our neighborhoods, homes, churches and schools this past week. Outside of the omnipresent heroism of our first responders that we too often take for granted, there have been countless stories of courage and compassion, none of which are more important than the other, but these are several which highlight the greatness of this state we all call home:
Tom and Julie Hall of Columbia saw an elderly man in a submerged vehicle in raging water, at which point the couple went in after him, saving both the stranger and his dog. The man, traveling through from Canada, had no car or place to stay, so the Halls put him up in their house until he could get passage to his family in Florida.
John Wienges Jr., a St. Matthews native, and Judge Phil Lenski of Columbia heard cries from their neighbors. While Wienges’ home was taking on water, he and Lenski left in a canoe to rescue their neighbors who in a flooding attic. Had Wienges’ and Lenski’s quick efforts not worked, the neighbors would likely be among the casualties of the flood.
Braden Stoneburner, Stan and Mason Harpe, and William Cason are just a few of the many in the Lake Katherine area who used their jonboats to take neighbors and strangers alike to higher ground. Stoneburner went out in the dark hours of Sunday morning to rescue neighbors who were crying for help, saving elderly and children alike. With the neighborhood taking on rushing water, he selflessly made multiple rescues.
As flooding spread further toward the Lowcountry, the amazing story of Pastor Wayne Reeves of Ridgeville recovering coffins from floodwaters made headlines. When asked why he was wading through water to bring the coffins to dry ground, Reeves explained, “If that was my mama or my dad, I would walk through hell or high water… and today it happened to be high water.”
In the aftermath of the destruction, the world once again witnessed South Carolina display her generosity. Items had to be maneuvered from one shelter to another, simply because volunteers had brought too much. Crowdfunding websites popped up left and right, and within hours, goals of thousands of dollars were met to help aid in recovery costs for flood victims.
Among those recovery efforts, Joe Blanchard of Blanchard Caterpillar was one of the many business owners who stepped up to provide assistance where needed. In Blanchard’s instance, he donated two Caterpillar backhoes to the City of Columbia’s canal repair. Later in the day, first responders used a Chinook helicopter to lift the donated tractors across the water and into use, trying to restore Columbia’s main source of clean water.
Among the volunteers cleaning up, Hammond School’s football team showed up early Tuesday to help clean a house near Lake Katherine. The house belonged to their rival’s athletic director, Jeff Whalen and his family. When asked about helping a rival coach, one player responded to a reporter with a confused, “but we all live in Columbia.”
Kassy Alia, widow of slain Forest Acres police officer Greg Alia, volunteered her time and assistance to helping victim families less than a week after her husband was gunned down in the line of duty, proving that the Alia family has more than one hero.
And finally, while leaving a cleanup site on Wednesday, I passed a handmade sign that had been posted in a flood victim’s yard that quoted Psalm 118, “This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad.”
That is what is remarkable about the resilient people of South Carolina. From our elected leaders who continue to do a wonderful job in this process to our everyday citizens, we put a smile on our face, roll up our sleeves and get to work. Across every social boundary, we lend our helping hands without asking questions.
Thousands of South Carolinians have lost their homes and their belongings — at the time of this writing, water has not begun to retract in Williamsburg, Clarendon and parts of Sumter counties. Walking into one flooded house was reminiscent of an insurance company ad—wedding photos damp on the ground, children’s toys waterlogged in the street. Homes and communities have not only been destroyed, but lives have as well.
As the waters lower and blue skies emerge, spirits and prayers are lifted. With the helping hands of all South Carolinians, we will rebuild our communities and state together, stronger than before. After all, while we breathe, we do in fact hope, and that hope is for a better tomorrow.
Former Democratic state Rep. Boyd Brown is a commercial real estate broker in Columbia. He lives in Ridgeway and serves as the appointee for the 5th Congressional District on South Carolina’s Conservation Bank board of directors.
FEEDBACKTime to raise gas tax to fix crumbling roads hit by storm
To the editor:
Time to raise the gas tax to fix the highway rain damage and keep it on to fix what is needed in South Carolina. We now need a real 10-year rebuilding program instead of the year-to-year folly engaged in by our legislators.
Earmark a fixed portion of the new tax stream (emergency gas tax increase, usage or mileage fees, gross vehicle weight) to finance the decade-long road rebuilding program (exclude new roads that are not now in construction as we do not need that now). Get rid of the infrastructure bank and finance the rebuilding through the executive branch. Make the governor responsible for progress or lack of it.
For sure, forget Haley’s quid pro quo tax exchange idea. It was dumb then and even dumber now.
— Fred Palm, Edisto Island, S.C.
General Assembly needs to wake up to real needs
To the editor:
I would hope that the recent flooding in our fair state will be the clarion call for the General Assembly to do what it should have done two sessions ago: increase the user tax (fuel tax) on our roads and bridges to provide adequate resources to do what needs to be done. This allows us to pass off some of those costs to tourists, visitors and truckers who buy fuel and pass through our state. It is far more efficient and less demanding of our citizens than some of the other schemes that have been placed on the table.
Don’t cut taxes somewhere else. Don’t give a tax break to upper-income residents and pass it off as a general tax cut. Just do what needs to be done and increase the fuel tax by at least 20 cents. I would suggest tying the tax to inflation so you don’t have to go through the apparent agony of a tax increase whenever it is needed. I realize that adequate maintenance would not have precluded much of the damage done by the floods. But perhaps it could have ameliorated some of it and perhaps the damage will provide enough focus on the matter so that, if we have to repair the damage anyway, we can do it right with the right resources at hand.
I wish our General Assembly would do three things this session:
- Pass ethics legislation that is meaningful and eliminates the fox watching the hen house.
- Increase the tax on fuel to a level that allows adequate maintenance of our roads and bridges with no other sleight of hand to accompany the increase.
- After 22 years of deliberation, fix our education system so each child has an equal chance to succeed no matter where their parents live.
How much more pleasant our state would be if we would meaningfully address these three issues Is this too great a challenge to ask of our legislators? If it is, then, I strongly suggest we consider alternatives during our next election cycle.
We can only blame ourselves if we continue to send the same incumbents back time and again and also expect things to change. These matters have been festering for years. It is past time to fix them. Our people are becoming impatient.
— Sam Griswold, Columbia, S.C.
Have sunset provision for any gas tax hike
To the editor:
I think any increase should have a sundown provision so we don’t go on forever and ever but just have it for the time the funds are needed.
— Mary Heatherly, Spartanburg, S.C.
Billboards pushing third way now in S.C.
To the editor:
S
aw your article on the voters in the middle having few good choices. [Brack, Voters in middle bumfuzzled by shoddy choices.]
Thought you might be interested to learn that the attached (at right) will appear on 13 billboards in the Midlands beginning next Thursday and run for at least a month. Other images will appear on additional billboards later in October.
My experience has been that the “middle” is alive and well and getting increasingly frustrated. How that all plays out will be “interesting,” as Tom Davis suggests!
— Jim Rex, Fairfield County, S.C.
Send us a letter. We love hearing from our readers and encourage you to share your opinions. Letters to the editor are published weekly. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. We generally publish all comments about South Carolina politics or policy issues, unless they are libelous or unnecessarily inflammatory. One submission is allowed per month. Submission of a comment grants permission to us to reprint. Comments are limited to 250 words or less. Please include your name and contact information.
- Send your letters to: feedback@statehousereport.com
Up, middle and down on the Great Flood of 2015
Thumbs up
North Charleston. Hats off to the city for reaching a $6.5 million settlement with the family of Walter Scott, the unarmed man shot and killed by a police officer earlier this year.
Aid workers. A hearty thanks to all of the nonprofits, volunteers, and local and state government workers who have struggled tirelessly to help flood victims over the last week.
In the middle
S.C. leaders. Thank goodness you’re accepting federal aid dollars to deal with the flood. But we all know it’s pretty hypocritical on two counts. First, most in the congressional delegation ignored the common good and voted against Hurricane Sandy funding for northeastern disaster victims a couple of years back. [Yes, they’ll say they voted against the measure because it was laden with extraneous pork, but that rings pretty shrill.] Second, accepting the aid while ignoring federal Medicaid expansion dollars is a slap in the face to 200,000 of South Carolina’s poorest.
Thumbs down
Hucksters. Thumbs down and big raspberries to fraudsters and hucksters trying to take advantage of South Carolinians hurt in the flooding. A pox on you.
NUMBERS
11,000,000,000,000
11 trillion: Number of gallons estimated to have been dumped on the Carolinas during the Great Flood of 2015. More.
QUOTEThe flooding shouldn’t really be a surprise
“The convergence of these statistically more likely events with what are very clearly climate related changes in sea level is a cautionary perspective into the future. It’s one that we really have to pay a lot of attention to and not just write it off as something that isn’t going to happen again.”
— S.C. Coastal Conservation League Executive Director Dana Beach in a Time story on why climate change is real and flooding, which used to be once in lifetime, shouldn’t be surprising now. More.
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIACongaree River
S.C. Encyclopedia | At the fall line in Columbia, the Broad and Saluda rivers form the Congaree River. For a little over a mile, the Congaree River rolls over rapids, shoals, and interspersed islands before it enters the coastal plain. As is typical of slowly moving mature streams, it meanders through the coastal plain, changing its course frequently.
With its main tributaries Gills Creek, Sandy Run, Cedar Creek, Toms Creek and the Congaree Creek, it forms one of the major rivers of the Santee River Basin, the largest river basin in South Carolina. If the Congaree River flowed in a straight line, it would be only about thirty miles long. However, because of its sinuous course, part of which forms the boundary between Richland and Calhoun Counties, the river flows southeasterly for about sixty miles and then joins the Wateree River to form the Santee River.
The Congaree River was named for the Siouan-speaking Congaree Indians, who settled below the confluence of the Broad and Saluda Rivers after the Yamassee War. At this intersection Old Fort Congaree was established in 1718 in order to protect the deerskin trade and the inward migration of colonists. In 1740 white settlers began populating the area, and indigo and corn were their principal crops.
The Congaree River contains the Congaree Swamp and the Beidler Tract, which represent the last stands of near-virgin southern hardwood forested swamps. Though limits have been placed on timbering these forests, lumbering along the Congaree River has been a major industry since colonial times. A thirty-seven-mile segment of the river was declared eligible for the South Carolina Scenic Rivers Program in 1976. Because of its strategic location, the Congaree River continues to be important for accessing the interior of the state.
– Excerpted from the entry by Micheline Brown. To read more about this or 2,000 other entries about South Carolina, check out The South Carolina Encyclopedia by USC Press. (Information used by permission.)
CREDITSEditor and Publisher: Andy Brack
Senior Editor: Bill Davis
Contributing Photographers: Michael Kaynard, Linda W. Brown
Phone: 843.670.3996
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!