ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. — The recovery process in Orangeburg County is well underway following last week's heavy rains, which caused widespread flooding and damage to infrastructure and the environment.
Emergency crews are continuing to assess the situation, focusing particularly on road damage and the failure of several local dams.
Director of Emergency Services Billy Staley said the county saw a significant number of dam failures, with at least 15 dams breaching during the intense rainfall.
“We had a tremendous amount of dams fail as well," said Staley. "Most of them are personal dams, or agricultural purpose dams, kind of varies. But those dams fail and as those dams fail, that's even more water that gets into the river, that's even more water that comes downstream.”
In response to the damage, local authorities prioritized isolating and barricading unsafe roads to keep drivers safe.
Despite these precautions, Orangeburg County reported three separate incidents of drivers bypassing barricades, resulting in accidents.
Emergency Services urges residents to remain vigilant and follow safety guidelines as repairs and assessments continue.
The next phase of recovery involves damage assessment.
Over the coming days, teams from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), Orangeburg County, and neighboring Lexington County will be inspecting affected properties and infrastructure.
The goal is to estimate the extent of the damage and plan for necessary repairs which Staley says will take a while.
“That's going to take time because those have to be engineered," said Staley. "And because there was a dam there before, there may not be a dam going back. So, those are things, the bridges that we have to cross as we're going through this process.”
While long-term repairs are being planned, residents are being advised to adjust to what Staley calls their "new normal."
“The big thing we want everybody to know is please orient yourself to your new normal and your new normal is going to be new routes, different routes, longer travel times," said Staley. "You're gonna see little changes with roads opening up, but you're going to see that it's going to be a while before some of the major roads will open back up.”
As the cleanup and recovery efforts continue, Orangeburg County’s Office of Emergency Services will also be assessing damage to the region’s rivers and creeks, where additional impacts are expected.
In the meantime, the county urges all residents to stay informed and heed safety instructions as the damage assessment and repair processes unfold.