COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – The epicenter of the massive East Coast rainstorm is Gills Creek, a stream that starts off in a sparsely populated area near a state park north of Columbia. The creek runs through several neighborhoods before emptying into the Congaree River south of town.
On Sunday, Gills Creek turned into a raging torrent of murky brown floodwater that swamped dozens of homes, apartments and businesses. The creek was 10 feet above flood stage, spilling floodwaters that almost reached the stoplights at a four-lane intersection.
Sunday was the wettest day in the history of Columbia, and the 16.6 inches of rain on Gills Creek was one of the rainiest days in a single spot in the U.S. over the last 15 years.
Some of the worst flooding was in an area southeast of downtown where modest apartment buildings line a stretch of the creek near the airport and not far from an industrial area.
At the Shandon Crossing apartment complex, rescue workers had spray-painted orange X’s on apartments and cars they had searched. Water had receded, but trash and mud were left behind.