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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.

Roads Still Closed Nearly A Year After Dams Failed

Alexandra Olgin

Fragments of black asphalt lay in the bottom of a collapsed two-lane road in Calhoun County. Part of Church Camp Road buckled after the dam underneath it failed during heavy rains last October. It has been closed since, which state Representative Russell Ott says is too long.

“In a years’ time a decision can be made. It’s a tough decision to have to make and I don’t envy that decision but at the same time it is still one that has to be made,” he said.

 

Individuals own this dam, and they’re the ones who get to decide whether to fix it or abandon it. Until the owners make that choice, the state transportation department can’t fix the road. Ott has been getting calls from constituents frustrated by this closed road and another a few miles away.

“If you live on this road and this was a road that you used every day then that’s a big deal to you. It impacts your life every single day,” Ott said.

Every day hundreds of people rely on the two roadways in and out of the county.

Credit Alexandra Olgin
The dam under Community Club Road in Calhoun County is no longer regulated by the state. DHEC determined no homes or property are downstream would be impacted by another failure. But the state transportation department can't repair the road till the dam is fixed.

64-year-old construction worker Jerry Wiles said, “I’m working on a job that is past the dam. I have got to drive out of the way every day.”

Farmer Christine Bickley has livestock that graze near the other closed road in Calhoun County.

“When we want to go check on the cows we have to go around to get to them,” she said.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation says there are 20 more roads around the state that are still closed as a result of the dams that were breached during the flooding last fall. State regulators don’t know when all repairs will be completed.

Jill Stewart heads the state’s dam safety program. Since her division now has the money to increase staff, she said dam owners should be prepared for a higher level of scrutiny.  

“The owners of dams should expect that with these new resources we are going to be inspecting dams on a routine basis. We are going to make sure that the dams are in acceptable condition. It’s kind of the new normal,” said Stewart.

Yet, Stewart said the agency is not yet enforcing penalties for dam owners who haven’t been bringing their dams into compliance. According to the latest DHEC report released in September, 51 dams breached during the floods, but there are thousands across South Carolina that withstood last year’s unprecedented rain just fine.

One of those belongs to Michael Moss. His dam rests under a private dirt path at the edge of a pond that is home to bass, crappie, redbreast, and other freshwater fish.

Moss said his family has taken care of this dam for nearly half century with no problems. But late last year he got word from the Department of Health and Environmental Control that he had to make major changes.

“I would take these trees out and plant holes. I can't imagine being able to do that for less than $100,000. I could do it, but I won't do it. I'll drain the pond before I do that." he said.

Moss doesn’t believe his dam should be held to the same standards as those in urban areas. Many of the dams breached were in the Midlands.

“I think I’m being penalized for what happened in Columbia,” he said. “I think you got to take each dam in its own situation.”

Moss claims his dam has been inspected for years and he hadn’t been required to remove all the trees until now. He isn’t the only one. As of May, DHEC identified 184 other dams that needed inspection and maintenance.

State Representative Russel Ott is part of a group of legislators considering new regulations for dams. He is trying to balance those in Moss’s situation with the collapsed roads in his district.

“We need to try to look at it from both sides,” he said. “Not be overly burdensome on dam owners, but at the same time put provisions into place to protect roads and infrastructure.”

He adds he’s not sure if a new law is as necessary as enforcing the one already in place.