COLUMBIA, S.C. — Debby may be long gone, but residents in Lower Richland County are still dealing with the after effects of the storm.
Just after 4:30 p.m. Monday, crews with the South Carolina Department of Transportation knocked headed home after spending the day making repairs along Air Base Road in Lower Richland County.
The road remained closed Monday evening, with a detour that caused quite a disruption for local residents.
“It’s inconvenient. They’re working on it. I guess we can hope for the best,” said Lillie Jamison, who lives just south of Air Base Road. She said she’s seen this kind of flooding before.
“Maybe twice, (like) when we had the hundred-year flood and of course this time with the storm. Raining and flooding has been an issue for certain areas down here, especially on Air Base Road water settles there when we have heavy rain. But yeah, we tend to have a lot of flooding," Jamison said.
The water from recent storms washed out a portion of the drainage system on Air Base Road, causing officials to close the road while emergency repairs are made. There is a detour in place that includes Cross Hill Road and Horrell Hill Road.
Monday’s afternoon rains didn’t help the situation. John Grimball has lived in Columbia most of his life and now calls Lower Richland home. He said the recent rains have surprised him.
"Today’s rain is as heavy as I’ve ever seen here. In the past, we do have rains of course, but I’d have to say today’s rain is as heavy a rain as I’ve seen,” Grimball said.
The rain Grimball described caused the Air Base Road detour to flood, forcing motorists to be extra cautious.
With water inundating so many of the area roads, News19 asked Lillie Jamison what kind of grade she would give SCDOT.
“They can do a whole lot better. So maybe they’re doing the best they can, but I think they can do a little bit better. I’m going to give them a "D" because I only can hope that they’re trying,” Jamison said.
Officials with SCDOT say that work will continue quickly along Air Base Road, however they could not provide an estimated timeline or a completion date.