Even though Hurricane Joaquin appears to have spared the US Mainland the combination of other weather elements have come together over South Carolina to dump feet of water, resulting in devastating conditions.
A drama is playing out in Columbia South Carolina on Bluff Rd where a firefighter tried to rescue a mother an child at an apartment complex. A firefighter responding to the scene was washed away and is out of contact. Per the scanner, the the firefighter called on his cell saying he was clinging to a tree. To make things worse, all routes to the scene have flooded making it impossible for emergency vehicles to reach the scene. At this point, The mother and child have not been rescued. They are trying to get a helicopter into the area, but as of the diary are looking at 30 Minute ETA.
There are hundreds of water rescues going on throughout the area. There are roads collapsing. All major roads into and through South Carolina have road closures.
Live video
http://www.wistv.com/...
Columbia area scanner http://www.broadcastify.com/...
Dams collapsing
http://www.weather.com/...
More rain is expected in the next several hours.
Hundreds of emergency calls are backing up via 911.
Helicopter en route to try to rescue firefighter.
Search continues for missing FF - Blackhawk helicopter enroute with Swimmers. Other rescues also ongoing.
9:16 AM PT: I can happily report the missing firefighter HAS been rescued. He is scratched up but otherwise in good condition. This is directly through scanner traffic.