Nature's wrath rains down on Greenville

Greenville Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Brian Donnelly carries 6-week-old Cameron Harper from a car that stalled on Lily Street in Berea early Thursday. With Donnelly is Cameron's aunt Chanekia Harper who is carrying Cameron's brother Deamajae, 4. Once Donnelly got the three to safety he returned to the car to rescue the boy's mother Chandra, 19. Staff/Bart Boatwright e-mail this story Related Related stories: • Send us your photos of the flood • What to do after heavy rain or flash flood • Hospital stays the course during storm • Compared to some, storm was just so-so • Spectacle for some, disaster for others Photo gallery • View images from the flooding • Reader-submitted flood photos

Severe thunderstorms have pummeled Greenville in the last few months, but this one skewed the scales of severity and damage.

Michelle Kilgore shook her head as she watched trees and lumber flow down the Reedy River in the aftermath of the storm.

"It's just unreal," she said.

Nearly six inches of rain fell in about five hours between Travelers Rest and Interstate 85 in what officials called the worst storm to hit Greenville in a decade.

More than 6,100 people lost power at the storm's peak, including the downtown St. Francis Hospital and county government offices.

Swift-water rescue teams, rafts, emergency crews and firefighters saved more than 120 people. Side streets became rivers. Main roads were shut down. Moving cars created six-foot wakes.

A series of storm fronts converged over the west side of Greenville County and hovered there, flooding the Parker, San Souci, City View and Berea communities, said Doug Outlaw, National Weather Service meteorologist.

Other parts of the county were barely touched.

An area where close to 40,000 people live was doused, but there were no deaths or major injuries reported.

Rain totals differed drastically, Outlaw said. Travelers Rest got 6.7 inches, Berea 3.51. Just over an inch fell in downtown Greenville.

Running in streams across muddy streets and backyards, the rain swelled local rivers and caused widespread flooding.

The damage and devastation varied throughout Greenville.

Emergency officials couldn't say how many houses were flooded or how many people were forced from their homes.

Greenville County crews will assess damage this morning, said Scot Wendelken, director of Greenville County Emergency Management. That assessment will be used to see if there was enough damage to qualify for federal assistance in cleanup.

Councilman Mark Kingsbury, who represents the area, said he believed Berea qualifies for aid.

"This is the worst rain I've ever seen in the area," he said.

Wendelken said it was the worst storm to hit Greenville since 1995, when almost 20 inches fell in 24 hours during Tropical Storm Jerry.

A major storm Thursday was unexpected, which compounded flooding problems. Still, more than 100 emergency crews from various agencies responded.

"I don't think anybody was predicting this kind of heavy rain," Wendelken said.

Houses were under water on Lily Street. Tree limbs and garbage flowed through backyards in San Souci.

Sheriff's deputies blocked Blue Ridge Road, the main artery connecting White Horse Road to Cherrydale.

Cleveland Park downtown was under water. Bramlett Road near the Fine Arts Center was closed.

Duke Power's Hudson Street substation was under eight feet of water, leaving 5,800 downtown residents and businesses without power, said Lee Lewis, company spokesman. More than 6,100 people lost power countywide.

Crews couldn't get to the equipment until the flooding subsided, Lewis said.

St. Francis Hospital lost power and its reserve generator blew. Back-up power was immediately restored to two of the operating rooms, enabling surgeons to finish, said Mary Hassert, a hospital spokeswoman.

A third operation was moved to an operating room that had power. All three patients are doing well, Hassert said.

Further surgeries were canceled for the day, and the emergency room was closed, she said. The more critical patients were moved to areas with power.

The power went out about 1:30 p.m. Lights, air conditioning and elevators came back on when main power was restored around 4 p.m., said Karen Schwartz, administrative director of support services.

All power in Greenville is expected to be restored by noon today.

Emergency crews wearing red and yellow ponchos rescued more than 120 people from trapped vehicles and houses.

Rescuers pulled two men from the Reedy River. Dive teams from numerous agencies patrolled county roads going from rescue to rescue.

Fifty-nine children were evacuated from a vacation bible school on Poinsett Highway.

Street lights were out across the county. The Reedy River jumped its banks in numerous spots.

By early afternoon, the rains subsided. The sun came out in some areas. People slowly started heading back to their houses.

Hundreds lined Greenville's Main Street to watch the dark brown Reedy River rage violently. A parallel road looked like a second river running alongside the Reedy.

The Reedy River rose to 16.79 feet, Outlaw said, more than double its 8-foot flood stage. It was the third-highest rise in the river's history.

Police officers blowing whistles guided traffic downtown because signal lights were out.

And people started to shovel through the messes left in their yards.

Three hours after the storm, it was impossible to tell where David Thomas' pond began and his yard ended.

Thomas and his daughter, Amanda Whitehead, started the task of cleaning up debris — including a three-foot chunk of wood that floated into the backyard of his Crestline Road home.

"It was amazing," Thomas said. "It looked like Lake Hartwell for a while."

Not far away, Hoyt Davis swept the water out of the garage of his East Chaucer Road home.

Sticks, trash and a shoe floated into his yard. A heavy gasoline smell made his wife's eyes water. Authorities were on their way to check the odor out, he said.

"I've been here going on 33 years and I've never seen anything like it," he said.

Staff Writers Angelia Davis and Andy Paras contributed to this article.