SC flooding causes 9 deaths, more in need of rescuing

SOUTH CAROLINA — The latest on the rainstorm that is pounding parts of the East Coast (all times local):

10:45 a.m.

Authorities say a 56-year-old man who tried to drive his sedan through floodwaters in South Carolina has died, the ninth fatality since a slow-moving rainstorm began several days ago.

Kershaw County Coroner David West said McArthur Woods drowned after driving around a barricade Sunday night into standing water on a road in Lugoff, a community northeast of Columbia.

Someone called 911 around 10 p.m. after hearing a passenger in the car screaming. The 28-year-old woman managed to climb out through a window and get on top of the car. A firefighter with a tether waded into several feet of water and rescued her.

Woods wasn't able to make it out of the car, which was already submerged when the woman was saved.

West said the woman was taken to the hospital and doesn't appear to have life-threatening injuries.

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10:30 a.m.

Attorney General Alan Wilson is warning South Carolinians that a law against price gouging is under effect in the wake of torrential rains and flooding across the state.

The top prosecutor issued a news release Monday saying the law went into effect when Gov. Nikki Haley issued a state of emergency for the state.

Wilson urges people to notify his office if they see gouging happening for prices of commodities including food, gasoline, lodging and water.

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8:15 a.m.

Floodwaters are starting to recede in Charleston, one of the areas hardest hit as days of torrential rain gripped South Carolina.

But public schools and government offices in Charleston remained closed Monday. City officials say about 30 streets and intersections are still closed because of standing water. Others roads in outlying areas closed as well.

By morning, though, the rain had stopped in Charleston. Officials say some flooding should recede with the midmorning low tide. The high tide Monday afternoon is not predicted to be nearly as high as those of the weekend.

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8:15 a.m.

The flooding across South Carolina has forced desperate rescues for some, and discomfort and unexpected expense for nearly everyone.

Pastor Robert Hunter went to church Sunday morning and couldn't return afterward to his home in the Florence County town of Pamplico.

Early Monday, from a hotel off Interstate 95 about 15 miles from his home, the 63-year-old Hunter said: "I got about less than a mile from my home, and the water there had broken across the road. The road was impassable, and all the other little roads around were impassible."

He was trying to return home after leading Sunday services. He says he crossed bridges with water already up to the point that it was rushing across the span's pavement. After trying alternates, he gave up and checked into the hotel about an hour before it filled up.

He says his wife was OK at their home on a small rise more than a mile from the Pee Dee River.

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6:32 a.m.

As the waters along the South Carolina coast continue to cause devastation in the area, seven people have died and more are in need of rescuing, officials said Monday morning.

Authorities have released more information about a South Carolina Department of Transportation worker killed in the aftermath of torrential rains and historic flooding in the state.

The agency says in a news release that 45-year-old Timothy Wayne Gibson died in flood waters on Sunday while overseeing work near downtown Columbia.

DOT says Gibson was working on Garners Ferry Road, a major thoroughfare into the capital city that has seen feet of water pooling in residential and commercial areas.

Transportation officials said Gibson was with the agency's Richland Maintenance Unit and was traveling in a truck that was caught in rushing waters, overturned and was swept away. An autopsy was scheduled Monday.

So far, at least seven deaths have been blamed on the vast storm that has forced hundreds from their homes, cancelled schools and prompted rescues of stranded citizens by water and air.

Emergency crews have taken swift action, in what South Carolina officials said is some of the worst flooding the state has seen.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol has 255 troopers on duty with others on standby.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has 320 agents on active or standby duty.

Eight swift water rescue teams are operating with more teams arriving from other states.

RELATED: 70 miles of I-95 closed in SC; NC Guard members deploy

School districts in 19 counties are closed or operating on a delayed schedule Monday.

Emergency managers sent out a statewide alert telling people to remain indoors.

Some 30,000 sandbags have been used by the South Carolina Department of Transportation and local public safety agencies.

S.C. Highway Patrol reports Interstate 95 between I-20 in Florence County and I-26 in Orangeburg County has been closed. Interstate traffic in that affected area is being rerouted.

S.C. Highway Patrol reports that today from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. there were reports of 315 collisions, 239 calls for assistance, 273 reports of trees on the road and 318 reports of roadway flooding. Numerous roads have been closed due to the flooding conditions.

Five weather-related deaths have been reported. Three were reported by the S.C. Highway Patrol, two from Richland County Sheriff's Department.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is warning of the dangers associated with rising floodwaters, including drowning, bacterial and viral infection from sewage overflows.

The Public Information Phone System continues to handle inquiries from the public. The number to call is 1-866-246-0133.

WSOC