Flash floods still a danger Wednesday

State and Richland County officials are monitoring a dam near the Crane Creek waterway that is beginning to crest after heavy rainfall swept through the Midlands Tuesday morning.

Lt. Curtis Wilson, a Richland County Sheriff’s Department spokesman, alerted media Tuesday afternoon that South Carolina Emergency Management Department officials are monitoring a dam located near North Brickyard and Farrow roads.

So far, there have been no evacuations of the area ordered, officials said.

Shortly before the dam began to crest, Columbia city officials issued sanitary sewer system overflow notifications for several roads in the Lake Katherine and Trenholm-Buchanan neighborhoods.

Officials said sewer systems located in the 1700 block of West Buchanan Drive, 1900 block of Belmont Drive, 4600 block of Pine Grove Court and the 1500 block of Kathwood Drive are overflowing after extended wet weather conditions.

West Buchanan Drive, near the intersection of Trenholm Drive and North Beltline Boulevard near A.C. Flora High School, experienced severe flooding during October’s heavy rain falls that flooded much of the state.

Officials issued a flash-flood warning for several counties Tuesday morning, which has now been downgraded to a hazardous weather outlook notification, after rains fell throughout the Midlands. The extended wet weather conditions could lead to flooding along small streams and in urban locations through Wednesday, the notification said.

Several motorists became stranded, but not entrapped, in vehicles during the rains as many roadways experienced flooding in the Columbia area, according to Columbia Fire Department’s Brick Lewis.

Lewis said the fire department and other emergency response agencies are urging motorists to not attempt to drive through roadways that have standing water.

Weather service forecasts predict a 90 percent chance that rain will continue to fall through Tuesday night and will continue to fall with an 80 percent chance of showers Wednesday and a 40 percent chance on Thursday. Forecasts suggest that Christmas day will be mostly cloudy with a high of 79 degrees.

This story was originally published December 22, 2015 at 7:45 AM.