ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Some Orangeburg County residents tell News19 that because of flooding, they've been cut off from the world, with a remote, four-mile dirt road as the only way in or out.
Dana Vojt lives just off Gatlin Road and Noel Drive in an area known as the Horse Range Watershed. Since 2015, Vojt and her fellow neighbors have been dealing with the issue of heavy flooding any time it rains.
"I got a call about 7 a.m. saying, 'Hey, I need you to come out to Gatlin," Vojt recalls.
What she saw was the road entirely covered by water and parts being washed away from rushing rapids. She says the floods and lack of access to main roads have her fearful for her life and her loved ones.
"I don't want them [my grandkids] to have to face something like this in case we need an emergency. We can't get out. If there was an emergency last night, we couldn't get help. What were we gonna do? Are we going to wait until someone loses a life?" Vojt said.
Vojt says neighbors have been teaming up to get the attention of local lawmakers and representatives, with little success.
"This was brought to the attention of the county, to the county administrator. This is brought to the senate, we've talked about this before," Vojt explains. "2015 is actually when we started this problem, but now it has come to the point of we can't do the blame game, we need solutions, not a temporary fix, not a bandage."
Orangeburg County District One Councilman Johnny Wright says it's an issue he's aware of but runs into roadblocks when asking for funding.
"They did a study on it, a different group, about a year and a half ago. Had people come in, give inputs about these areas and stuff of that nature. And of course, the big thing is trying to get funding." Wright said. "The county itself worked diligently to try to make sure that we can do all that we can to make sure we clean ditches and do other things but some of the bigger areas is beyond."
Councilman Wright tells us there is no timeline for a permanent solution, I asked if that could be within the next few years, and he said there is no guarantee that would happen.