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 Governor Nikki Haley warned residents to remain on alert as rain
continued to fall in some of the hardest-hit areas, including the
state capital, Columbia, which saw its wettest days on record over
the weekend.
"This is not over," Haley said at news conference. "There’s still a
lot of water out there."
President Barack Obama declared a disaster in South Carolina, making
federal funds available to governments and non-profits in 11
counties.
More than 2 feet (60 cm) of rain have fallen in the past three days
in parts of South Carolina, and moderate to heavy rain persisted on
Monday in the state's saturated northeastern corner and in
southeastern North Carolina, the National Weather Service said. The
rain was expected to taper off on Tuesday, it said.
The flooding closed schools and government offices, stranded
motorists and led to dramatic rescues, including a mother and her
15-month-old child who were plucked by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter
from a flooded home in Huger, South Carolina.
 Of the 11 people known to have been killed, seven drowned, the South
Carolina Department of Public Safety said.
Four others died in weather-related car crashes, the agency said. A
state transportation department employee was killed after his work
truck was overturned and swept away by rushing waters, the agency
said.
The severe weather was also blamed for two deaths in North Carolina,
officials said.
Nearly 1,000 people have found refuge in shelters around South
Carolina, officials said, and water distribution centers were being
opened after the downpours left an estimated 40,000 people without
drinking water. About 26,000 were without power, officials said.
On Monday afternoon, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department sent
deputies door to door to warn residents to evacuate after a dam
burst east of Columbia.
Condominium owners James and Rebecca Smith fled to a nearby high
school gym that the county designated as a shelter. "I’m just
worried about everybody else out there,” said Rebecca Smith,
referring to her 112-unit condominium complex.
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In Columbia, police and fire officials were going door to door
looking for anyone still trapped in houses and to test the stability
of buildings damaged by the deluge.
Columbia resident Tommy Rollins, 67, said he went to bed Saturday
night after watching a football game and woke up at 4 a.m. Sunday to
the sound of rushing water.
"It sounded like someone was taking a shower in every room," he
said. "Within 10 minutes, water was bubbling up through the hardwood
floors. We had about 30 minutes and then it was 4 feet (1.2 m)
deep."
Rollins and his wife grabbed a change of clothes and some toiletries
and stepped off their porch into chest-deep rushing water before
being brought to safety in a neighbor's boat, he said.
Haley and meteorologists said more flooding concerns remain as rains
in the Midlands and Upstate South Carolina flow downstream to the
already-swamped area known as the Lowcountry.
That area includes the peninsula of Charleston, which emergency
officials have reopened to allow people in and out though more than
30 streets remained flooded.
(Additional reporting by Harriet McLeod in Charleston, S.C., and
Gene Cherry in Hatteras Island, N.C.; Writing by Colleen Jenkins;
Editing by Grant McCool, Cynthia Osterman and Leslie Adler)
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