Swamped but feeling relief
Record-setting rain pounds parts of the East Coast, but the region is spared the worst of Joaquin.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Though spared the full fury of Hurricane Joaquin, parts of the East Coast still saw record-setting rain Saturday that shut down roads, waterlogged crops and showed little sign of letting up.
Much of the drenching was centered in the Carolinas, but coastal communities as far away as New Jersey were feeling the effects of unrelenting rainfall. Rain and flood warnings remained in effect for many parts of the East Coast through Sunday.
President Obama declared a state of emergency in South Carolina and ordered federal aid to help state and local efforts.
Three people have died in separate weather-related traffic incidents in South Carolina since the heavy rains began, the state’s highway patrol said, including two motorists who lost control of their vehicles and a woman hit by a car while walking alongside a highway.
Downtown Charleston was closed to incoming traffic Saturday as rain flooded roads and left some motorists stranded as floodwater engulfed their cars.
At least two bridges were washed out in other parts of the state.
“Where we normally are dealing with flooding for a few hours, we’re dealing with it in days here,” Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen said. “We’re seeing areas flood today that did not traditionally flood.”
The National Weather Service in Greenville, S.C., said that “bursts of heavy rain are likely” in the Carolinas and parts of northern Georgia that could cause some rivers and streams to flood significantly.
The rain levels had the potential to be “life threatening and historic,” the service said on its website.
Once the rain ends, the threat of flooding persists because the ground is too saturated to absorb water, meteorologists say. Flood watches and warnings also are in effect in Delaware and parts of New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.
Still, the Atlantic seaboard was spared what could have been much worse damage had Hurricane Joaquin not continued on a path well off the coast.
Meanwhile, Coast Guard aircraft have resumed the search off the southeastern Bahamas for a cargo ship with 33 people on board, 28 of them Americans, that lost power and began taking on water after Joaquin struck.
Coast Guard officials dispatched planes and helicopters to the area after the storm moved on to the northeast.
The 735-foot El Faro was heading from Jacksonville, Fla., to San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it was battered by 20- to 30-foot waves. Joaquin was a Category 4 hurricane at the time. It has since weakened to a Category 3.
‘Where we normally are dealing with flooding for a few hours, we’re dealing with it in days here.’ — Charleston, S.C., Police Chief Greg Mullen