Tropical Storm — Dillon, South Carolina

2016-10-08 to 2016-10-14 · Dillon, South Carolina

Event narrative

Hurricane Matthew moved up the eastern seaboard, bringing very heavy rain and strong winds. Rainfall amounts were high, with over a ten inches of rain reported. Tropical storm force winds and flooded ground caused widespread tree and power line damage. Major flooding resulted in the closure of I-95 between mile markers 181 and 193. Moderate river flooding across the southern parts of the county near the Lumber and Pee Dee rivers. Highway 9 from Dillon to Lakeview required closure. The Squires Lake Dam and Little Pee Dee state Park Dam failed due to flooding. Two main roads were closed due to flood waters, Highway 501 from Latta to Highway 9 and Highway 9 from Dillon to Little Rock. Many secondary roads were also submerged. A total of about 500 homes sustained some damage and of these, 100 were totally destroyed and 150 received major structural damage. Six roads were closed due to flood waters. One person died in Lake View while attempting to clean up after the storm the following day. Dillon County Emergency Management estimated 15 million dollars in damage across the county.

Wider weather episode

Major Hurricane Matthew moved up the southeast coast and slowly weakened to a category 1 storm as it moved up along the South Carolina coast and then eastward near the North Carolina coast. The hurricane brought 6 to 12 inches of rain and up to 15 inches to some areas of northeast South Carolina, with the bulk of the rainfall occurring within a 12 hour period. This rain fell on wet to in some cases saturated soil due to much above normal rainfall in September. The result was historic flooding; widespread flash flooding, and an extended period of major to record river flooding. Matthew's flooding rains, surge and wind brought loss of life, displaced tens of thousands of people, and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in structural damage as homes and businesses were devastated or totally destroyed. Major infrastructure will have to be repaired or rebuilt.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 663986. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.