Dozens of roads still closed from flooding in Orangeburg County
ORANGEBURG, S.C. (WIS) - As rain fell Wednesday across the region, many Orangeburg County residents likely had memories of last month’s flash flooding.
Twenty roads are still closed from the flooding in Orangeburg County.
With large portions of Oakmont Drive washed out, residents are worried more of the road may wash away.
“If it breaks loose here, you can forget about the house at this point,” said Ballard Williams.
Whiskey Road project finally starting to see some movement
In recent years, Whiskey Road has been associated with traffic, but a connector project nearly two decades in the making could help.
Ballard said the commute from North Road to his home typically takes about five minutes to get home.
A nine-minute detour sent him and other residents onto a dirt road that leads to neighboring communities.
“If an emergency happens, an emergency vehicle needs to get in here, the road is blocked off,” said Oakmont Drive resident Bonita McCoy. “If the fire department or the ambulance needs to get in here, they’re not going to know how to go around or it’s going to take longer.”
7 hurt as car bounces deer into bus window in Orangeburg County
Troopers said a deer was hit by a car, causing it to bounce off the window of a Job Corps bus traveling south on U.S. 301.
South Carolina Department of Transportation workers have not been able to give a timeline on when road repairs will start, saying they will have to install new drain systems after consulting with the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services to help the water flow.
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“The main drain has been stopped up for eight years now,” said Williams. “Only thing that’s open is that little secondary drain which can’t handle disposing that water out of that little small drain.”
SCDOT estimates it will cost roughly $20 million to repair damages in Orangeburg and surrounding counties as a result of last month’s flooding.
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