Conditions were looking bleak at the beginning of May. Only four
months of above normal rainfall had occurred in the previous 28
months. The details can be found in a previous blog post (here).
Much of the state was in a drought and the situation was getting
worse. Two events happened to change the course of the drought.
First, Tropical Depression Beryl brought much needed rain to
parts of the drought-stricken Midlands. However, there were
still areas that received little rain. This was soon followed by
an upper-level pattern that brought copious amounts of rain to
the Southeast, especially along parts of the central Gulf coast.
It eventually made its way to South Carolina bringing an
abundance of rain. More than 8 inches of rain fell in just four
weeks in the Columbia area. The result has been flooding of some
of the creeks in the area. |Flooding of the Rocky Branch Creek
closed the intersection of Main St. and Whaley St. on Monday,
June 11. Click on any of the images for a larger view. Image
Credit: USGS.|