NORTH & SOUTH CAROLINA - Heavy storms have hit the East Coast over the past couple of days, especially in North and South Carolina where more than 20,000 people went without power and local weather records were broken, to say the least.
The states both saw historic rains, according to AccuWeather and 6abc reports, with some areas seeing upwards of 20 inches of rainfall in the short time that the pattern has been in the area.
According to AccuWeather, the torrential storms developed due to a combination of tropical moisture from Hurricane Joaquin and a non-tropical system that has brought life-threatening floods.
"The flooding is unprecedented and historical," Dr. Marshall Shepherd, Meteorologist and Director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program, University of Georgia, wrote in an email to The Associated Press, according to 6abc.
It is a situation that the state’s Governor Nikki Haley says is still vulnerable in a news conference. The latest reports are that the record shattering storms have left about 26,000 people without power, 40,000 without running water, and ten weather-related fatalities in South Carolina, plus two in North Carolina, 6abc reports.
Noted areas of impact were Charleston, which saw 24.23 inches, half of what the area usually would see for the entire year, Columbia, which experienced 10.28 inches, the heaviest rainfall on record for both areas. Columbia Metropolitan Airport saw 6.87 inches of water, as well as several hundred roads and bridges. On Monday, Governor Haley said 381 roads and 127 bridges were closed across the state, according to 6abc, with 1,000 law enforcement officers and 1,000 transportation department personnel working to make the areas safe.
She also added that the structural integrity of all roads and bridges will have to be checked, which could take several weeks or more.
AndNowUKnow will continue to follow the situation as it develops.
