‘Another day without him’: Richland’s 9 flood victims honored, remembered

Tuesday was one more day without Sampson Pringle for those who loved him.

Aneesah Smith awoke sharply at 6 a.m., precisely a year since the last time she spoke to Pringle, her fiance, before he was swept away by floodwaters on Decker Boulevard. Throughout the day on the first anniversary of his death, Smith paused and remembered how that day unfolded.

But mostly, the thought on her mind was, “It’s just another day without him,” she said.

Pringle was one of nine people who died in Richland County when historic floods struck the region Oct. 4 and 5, 2015.

They, along with emergency personnel who responded in the days during and after the disaster, were honored with a memorial plaque dedicated by Richland County Council on Tuesday.

The one-year anniversary of the floods also marked one more day without Robert Allawos, Timothy Gibson, Melissa Hall, Alexandria Holmes, Bob McCarty, Ricky McDonald, Richard Milroy and Bob Vance, whose family members joined Pringle’s to accept plaques in memory of their lost loved ones.

When accepting a plaque in honor of Pringle, some of his family members wore T-shirts they made on his birthday, Feb. 15, with photographs of some of their favorite memories of him.

Smith smiled and laughed softly as she recounted a few: birthdays spent together (“He spoiled me,” she said), him DJ-ing, holding his daughter on her first birthday.

“He always saw good in people – everybody,” Smith said. “I want (his children) to know that he was a good person.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 8:47 PM.