Help out those who were hit by storm

It wasn’t the hurricane, it was the rain.

While Hurricane Joaquin narrowly missed making landfall along the U.S. coast, it amped up tropical moisture and a hovering front that homed in on South Carolina over the weekend, creating a rainstorm of epic proportions that flooded streets, wiped out bridges, drove people from their homes, swept away cars, breached dams, downed trees and fouled the water supply. More than six months’ worth of rain fell in two days, which some are calling the worst storm in decades, with Sunday being one of the rainiest days in the entire nation in the last 15 years.

Worst of all, of course, the storm claimed lives, at least 14 so far. More victims could be found as emergency workers search door to door and check cars swept away by the flood waters.

The state’s Midlands were the hardest hit, but the Lowcountry also was inundated. Officials say the damage will continue as the accumulated water, with nowhere to drain, makes its way to the coast and eventually to the Atlantic.

The Upstate, however, escaped the brunt of the storm. While the weekend brought heavy rains after lighter rains over the previous week already had saturated the soil, flooding was no worse than during other heavy rainstorms.

Residents in York, Chester and Lancaster counties could breathe a sigh of relief. But many of us might also encounter something resembling survivor’s guilt: Why were we spared when so many of our neighbors to the south were devastated by the storm?

We know what that is like. Thousands of residents remember the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo and the long, painful process of assessing damage and rebuilding.

For flood victims, that process won’t end when the water is gone. The floods soaked homes and their contents, many of them keepsakes that can’t be replaced, and the moisture will harbor mold and rot that will require special treatment to eradicate. Residents are likely to be dealing with the effects of this storm for months.

Now, many of us are asking ourselves what we can do to help. Among those lending a hand in this effort are local National Guard members, area firefighters and others who have volunteered their time to aid the cleanup.

Official crews are working around the clock to restore power, help people find shelter and bring them potable water. But informal networks of people locally and around the state are banding together to send bottled water to the nearly 40,000 people whose taps no longer supply clean water. In addition to water, groups are collecting diapers, toiletries and other necessities to ship to people in the flooded areas of the state.

For many, some of the most vivid memories of the aftermath of Hurricane Hugothe include the sense of deep gratitude they felt when people from around the nation descended on the state to help. We now have a responsibility to “pass it on,” to do what we can to alleviate the suffering of those whose lives have been turned upside down by this deluge.

As those in the Upstate reflect on our good fortune in dodging the worst of the storm, let us not forget those who weren’t so lucky. After all, it could just as easily have been us.

This story was originally published October 7, 2015 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Help out those who were hit by storm."