© 2024 South Carolina Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Ongoing coverage of South Carolina's recovery from the flooding of 2015.What had been Lindsay Langdale's Columbia home October 3, 2015 was a flooded ruin the next day.This coverage is made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In October of 2015, South Carolina received rainfall in unprecedented amounts over just a few days time. By the time the rain began to slacken, the National Weather Service reported that the event had dumped more than two feet of water on the state. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the subsequent flooding was the worst in 75 years.

Flood That Caused Fort Jackson Dam Break Resulted in Damaged Homes, Lawsuit

A worker spray paints a shelf as one of many repairs to the home of Rob and Lisa Echols of Columbia. Their home was flooded when the Semmes dam at Fort Jackson failed during the record-setting rains of early October, 2015.
Tut Underwood/SC Public Radio

On the night of the flood, Rob Echols remembers hearing rushing water outside his house. At 5:20 am, he went downstairs and saw two feet of water in his dining room with more quickly rushing in.  He gathered his five children and two dogs, preparing to find higher ground, until he saw the car floating down the driveway.  "So, by that point, we knew we needed to get out of here. And the walls started shakin' and the floors started poppin," he says.  His wife, Lisa, says they waded out the door, grabbing hold of some lounge chairs floating by, "then swam the rest of the way and walked up the hill, once we got on dry land, up to a friend’s house."

More on this Story

Rob remembers how quickly the water rose that morning.  While still in his home, he says the water came up more than three feet in 15 minutes and it quickly got worse, "so probably from the creek bank to here, about 15 feet of water came up within just a few minutes. So no doubt in my mind it was a dam break scenario that caused flooding."  He adds that normal floodwater should rise and then stay high, but this water receded completely by 9 a.m.

The entire first floor of Rob and Lisa Echols' home, adjoining Fort Jackson, was ruined, and is undergoing major repairs.
Credit Tut Underwood/SC Public Radio
The entire first floor of Rob and Lisa Echols' home, adjoining Fort Jackson, was ruined, and is undergoing major repairs.

The Echolses' home is located in the King's Grant neighborhood, just a short walk from Fort Jackson where several dams are located. Lisa and Rob both blame the failure of the Semmes Dam for all the damage done to their neighborhood.  Rob says despite that, no one has heard a word from Fort Jackson about the damage.  They've since filed a lawsuit against the Fort, along with 25 of their neighbors.

The Echols lost all of their possessions in the flood, and hope to receive compensation from the Fort.  Rob says, "if it was strictly Mother Nature that caused this, we'd all shake hands and go away. This is a dam that Fort Jackson has, that broke, and caused us all this hardship." He hopes not only to receive payment for the damages done, but an assurance that a dam breach will never happen again.

Fort Jackson is inside the black line. King's Grant neighborhood is outlined in purple.
Credit Google Maps
Fort Jackson is inside the black line. King's Grant neighborhood is outlined in purple.

 In 2013, the Army Corps of Engineers gave the Semmes dam the second to worst rating -- 'serious hazard'.  In practice, the rating means a breach is possible under normal conditions. The Echolses' laywer, Pete Strom, has tried to obtain the inspection report under the Freedom of Information Act, but has been continually denied. The Corps says the report is a matter of national security.

Strom says he doesn't expect their day in court until the end of 2017. He says he's disappointed the situation has come to this.  "I wish they'd shown up the next day and said 'Look our dams failed. We should have done something about it. We're the Federal government and we want to take care of you.'"

The Echolses are living in a rental home not far from King's Grant.  They expect to be back home in a few months.

Tut Underwood is producer of South Carolina Focus, a weekly news feature. A native of Alabama, Tut graduated from Auburn University with a BA in Speech Communication. He worked in radio in his hometown before moving to Columbia where he received a Master of Mass Communications degree from the University of South Carolina, and worked for local radio while pursuing his degree. He also worked in television. He was employed as a public information specialist for USC, and became Director of Public Information and Marketing for the South Carolina State Museum. His hobbies include reading, listening to music in a variety of styles and collecting movies and old time radio programs.