Local residents in flood-prone areas prepare for more rain

Hurricanes - Photo gallery - Tracking Map - Print a tracking map AP STORM HEADLINES Recent Headlines: Flooding in Upstate predicted after Ivan Ivan expected to bring strong winds, heavy rains to Upstate Read more of GreenvilleOnline's coverage of Hurricanes >> e-mail this story

Still, the Greenville woman isn't about to be fooled by old man river.

She's preparing to protect her home and lifelong possessions from Hurricane Ivan if the storm begins pummeling the Upstate early Friday as expected.

Green has piled a computer, clothes, suitcases and other household items on her beds, hopefully out of the way of any rising water. A trailer outside is filled with boxes of important papers and other belongings.

She and her husband have parked their boat near the house in case they need it to evacuate.

"We had five feet of water in the yard last weekend, and I think it was just prayers and miracles that kept it out of the house then," she said. "Today, I'm trying to find sandbags. And I'll be moving our vehicles to the top of the road."

Upstate residents, especially those like Green who live alongside rivers and streams, can expect significant flooding this weekend after Ivan blows ashore on the Gulf Coast and then stalls near the Great Smoky Mountains.

The National Weather Service in Greer issued a flood watch Wednesday afternoon effective until 6 a.m. Sunday for the Upstate, western North Carolina and northeastern Georgia.

Ivan is expected to reach land early Thursday between the mouth of the Mississippi River and the Florida panhandle, then track northeast toward the lower Appalachian region through the weekend.

Predictions are that by Sunday evening, rainfall totals could range from 3 to 6 inches east of Interstate 85 to 8 to 12 inches over the foothills and mountains of the Carolinas. Some areas of the mountains could see more than 15 inches of rain.

"We'll have periods of torrential downfalls, but the rain will be pretty much continuous," meteorologist Scott Krentz said Wednesday.

"We'll actually start seeing some of the rain bands here tomorrow evening. And the winds will be stronger than they were with Frances. I expect that we'll have trees and power lines down because the ground is so saturated."

A high wind watch will be in effect from Thursday evening through Friday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Predictions now are that the Upstate could experience sustained winds of 15 to 25 mph on Friday with gusts reaching tropical storm force strength of 40 mph. In the mountains, sustained winds of 40 mph are expected, with possible gusts of 60 mph.

It is a difficult forecast for the Rev. J.W. Hester Sr. to hear.

His congregation at Bibleway Full Gospel Missionary Baptist Church has battled more than their share of floodwaters this summer. A freak summer thunderstorm that drenched neighborhoods in northwest Greenville County the last week of July, flooded the basement of the City View church where its food and clothes banks were housed and damaged its fellowship hall.

The church sits next to Long Branch, a major tributary of the Reedy River.

Hester lost years of sermons he'd preached while trying to lift his congregation through such trying moments in history as the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war — and more recently the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The church lost computers, furniture, refrigerators, freezers, copiers and the robes the pastor wore every Sunday.

"We've finally gotten everything cleaned out, and now here we are again," Hester said Wednesday. "We're worried, yes. But we're trusting in God. And we're trying to make sure that we've moved everything out of harm's way. We've started to reassemble the food bank and the clothing bank, and the community has been so responsive. We've moved all of that upstairs, and we're just hoping for the best."

But the threat of Ivan gives him a "shaky" feeling he doesn't particularly like.

"I really feel this is the community where the Lord wants us to be," Hester said Wednesday. "But we don't have any guarantees that this weekend we won't be in nine feet of water again."

He and his congregation is hoping to buy land where they can build elsewhere, or perhaps even a property that a neighboring church is about to sell.

"That is what I would really like to do," he said. "This just isn't a good situation for us."

Scot Wendelken, Greenville County's director of emergency management, said his office has been flooded with calls seeking information about the impending storm. The questions have ranged from where folks can buy sandbags to if emergency shelters will be opened.

"The American Red Cross here in the county handles the sheltering here for us, so they are aware of the possibilities," Wendelken said. "We're all aware of the potential, and we're getting prepared."

Ashley Engler, community and public relations coordinator for the American Red Cross, said her agency is assessing the availability of volunteers and putting possible shelter locations like churches and schools with gymnasium facilities on standby.

Clear Spring Fire-Rescue Chief Greg Merritt said he and his crew will welcome anyone needing shelter from the storm as well. While the two Clear Spring stations at 3008 Woodruff Road and 2435 East Georgia Road aren't certified as severe weather shelters, both are equipped with generators.

The two stations could likely accommodate up to 200 people, the chief said.

Even as folks from the Upstate were preparing for their own problems from Ivan, many here were coordinating efforts to help friends, family and neighbors in hurricane-ravaged Florida.

Bi-Lo supermarkets said the chain will begin a donation program in their stores this week to encourage customers and associates to assists the American Red Cross in its disaster relief efforts. At Bi-Lo, shoppers can request to scan a special Red Cross card at the check-out to donate $1 or more to the relief effort. All of the funds collected will be donated to the Red Cross, and Bi-Lo will match up to $25,000.

Also, Mauldin businessman Randy Gregory, who owns Superior Fire & Safety, along with firefighters from Clear Spring Fire-Rescue, are making plans to fill a 54-foot trailer with nonperishable foods, canned goods, diapers, baby formula, batteries and bottled water to donate to those hit hardest this Hurricane season. Anyone interested in contributing to this effort can drop donations off at either Clear Spring station.

Staff writer April M. Silvaggio can be reached at 298-4801.