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Hey all, just wanted to let you know what is happening here in South Carolina. We are having a massive storm system moving through the area that is dropping a lot of rain. This is causing widespread flooding in many areas right around where I live. This is the worst flooding in state history, out pacing even that of Hurricane Hugo that hit us directly back in 1989.

Now, my family and I are currently fine. I have no flooding in my neighborhood. We are pretty well off as there is ample drainage and we are up on a hill, but other lower lying areas around are not as well off.

Here are some links to local news coverage.

http://www.wltx.com/picture-gallery...-dangerous-flooding-in-the-midlands/73328646/

http://www.wistv.com/slideshow?widgetid=170538

I want to reiterate that we are fine.

Be careful mate.

Thanks for checking in.

Start gathering animals 2 by 2! That or get to high ground. Stay safe, dude!

He's already on the high ground, Anakin.

Good to hear you're safe, GenSpec.

Well, at least some people have the right priorities. (seriously, watch the video all the way through)

Meanwhile, not even an hour and change to the south, all we're getting is light drizzle and some very high tides.

Stay safe, brother.

Hoping everything's okay still. My sister lives in the same town as GS and my parents close by, and they've sent me some pretty nasty pictures.

Yeah, no problems. Water might be an issue down here for many people. Lots of breaks in the water pipes around.

My house is just outside one of the affected areas, so I am being cautious with the water. We bought enough provisions ahead of time that we are ok for now.

It is still drizzling, but the rain is finally breaking up. We may be through the worst of it. It is going to take a long time to fix everything.

My sister just sent this. Let me see if I can put this in perspective for those not from central SC. This the backside of a dam spillway. The Lake Murray dam is a really impressive earthen dam built as part of the CCC projects. It is normally about 100 feet or so above the ground below at it's highest point (though this spillway is at one of the lower ends), where people stand and fish. The water is shallow and rocky. This is it this morning.

That was to release water from the lake, it was done on purpose to help lower the water levels in the lake so that it could then hold more. This lake is man-made, back in the 20's when it was first built, it was the largest lake of it's type in the world. The dam that was built with it was reinforced several years ago and so is in no danger of collapse or breaching.

Now, other, far smaller dams have broken. One even held until the water over-topped it, then it eroded from the top down.

Hey all, gonna post this here as it seemed the best place.

While I and my family came through the flooding ok, one of my coworkers was not so lucky.

This is his house during the flood:



He lost 3 cars, an RV, and had 4 feet of water in his house. Due to some circumstances that I am not entirely sure about, he doesn't qualify for the FEMA assistance program. Something to do with having paid off his house and opting out of flood insurance (because he was told he didn't need it apparently).

Anyway, he is now in danger of losing his house as well. He has set up a GoFundMe campaign, trying to raise enough to cover the damages. I have contributed and if any one of you would like to help out, I am sure it would be appreciated. You can donate anonymously if you like.

Here is the link to his campaign: