Flood watch issued for Rock Hill area, storm prep begins before possible ‘biblical’ hit from Hurricane Joaquin

Emergency personnel are preparing for what one official said could be a “biblical” rainfall of up to 8 inches in York, Chester and Lancaster counties from late Friday through the weekend as Hurricane Joaquin barrels up the East Coast.

The National Hurricane Center updated Joaquin on Thursday afternoon to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm. The storm path remains uncertain, and the rain is not all from the hurricane. Chris Horne, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Greenville, said 8 to 10 inches of rain is possible.

The weather service also said “significant flash flooding is possible” in a flood watch that runs through Sunday night.

Thursday evening, Gov. Nikki Haley declared a state of emergency in advance of the storm.

The storms could bring far less rain, but emergency officials are preparing to handle a storm that could affect travel, power, driving and public safety. The American Red Cross is ready to open emergency shelters if needed.

Ten inches or more of rain could bring a “major emergency,” said Chuck Haynes, emergency management director for York County, mainly because stormwater runoff systems are not built to handle so much rain in a short period of time. Officials from York County and the county’s municipalities and rescue squads held two conference calls Thursday to coordinate potential response, and swiftwater rescue equipment was readied by rescue squads and fire departments, Haynes said.

The worst problems from rain and flooding usually involve drivers who become trapped, Haynes said, so emergency officials are urging extreme caution through Sunday. S.C. Department of Transportation officials have already issued a warning about driving on flooded roads.

The rain and flooding could be so severe that Chester County has asked rescue squads to ready boats and lifesaving equipment in case of crisis. Rain the past week has almost saturated the ground and flood-prone areas will not be able to handle 8 inches of rain, said Ed Darby, senior planner for Chester County’s emergency management office.

“We can handle 3 inches, but 8 inches is biblical,” Darby said. “We aren’t sure what we will get but we have to plan for the worst. We are expecting very heavy rain, and if we get it we will have flooding.”

The area saw such heavy rainfall from Hurricane Hugo in 1989, during which heavy rain and high winds downed power lines and trees and cut off roads and power to tens of thousands of people.

Tega Cay workers cleaned storm drains for that lakeside city which has had problems with flooding for years during heavy rains.

Lancaster County administrators on Thursday met with the heads of law enforcement, fire and EMS departments to coordinate efforts in advance of the storm.

The storm comes after a week of intermittent rain that has saturated the ground that was dry from months of drought. Lake Wylie just a week to 10 days ago was 6 feet below normal levels. Officials at Duke Energy, which regulates the Catawba River flow at the dam in Fort Mill, said the company does not expect a “high-water event” for lakeside residents and has not planned to open dam gates to release water downstream, said Duke spokesperson Lisa Parrish.

“At this point, there is plenty of storage in Lake Wylie,” Parrish said.

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Flood watch issued for Rock Hill area, storm prep begins before possible ‘biblical’ hit from Hurricane Joaquin."