Cyclones and Floods, Part II

As I write, several towns in northeastern South Carolina have been underwater for days, while others closer to the coast anxiously wait to see how high the water will rise in their communities. Three years ago, we were blissfully unaware that within a few days Kingstree would be inundated with water from Black River after 20-plus inches of rain.

Virginia Street, October 2015

This was, however, not our first flood. On July 13-14, 1916, a Category 2 hurricane made landfall at Bulls Bay, SC, and moved very slowly northwestward, producing extremely heavy rain. According to The State newspaper account published July 15, the wind began blowing in Kingstree at 2 a.m. on Friday, July 14, lasting until 2 p.m. that day. The wind was followed by a torrential downpour that kept up until 9 a.m. Saturday. From 8 p.m. Thursday night until 7 a.m. Sunday morning, 16.77 inches of rain were recorded.

The article added, "Black River on the west of town is higher than ever known to be before and is still rising." The causeway between the bridges on the Kingstree-Manning road was already underwater.

East Main Street, July 1916

Photo Courtesy Williamsburgh Historical Museum

East Main Street, Kingstree, October 2015

"The drainage canal almost in the centre of the town was swollen far beyond its banks at 7 o'clock this morning," the article continued, "and in appearance was a greater body of water than the river and doing more damage." The concrete span that bridged the canal on East Main Street was swept away by the rising water. A number of stores on Main Street near the canal were flooded, including the grocery store of T.J. Scott and M.H. Jacobs; Rodgers & Godwin's furniture store; W.N. Jacobs, grocer; Williamsburg Hardware Co.; Nelson's Warehouse; Farmer's Supply Co.; Williamsburg Livestock Co.; and Vause & Sons shops. J.T. Nelson's new brick building was severely undermined by the water, while a quarter mile south of the depot, the main railroad track was undermined and the roadbed swept away.

T.J. Scott was sleeping in his grocery store at the time flood waters entered his building. When he was aroused, he jumped up and into water up to his knees. The owners of Williamsburg Livestock had to evacuate horses and mules from their property as the waters continued to rise. The water rose so rapidly in the stores surrounding the canal that nothing could be saved. In a very short time, Nelson's Warehouse had two-feet of water inside it.

The railroad south of the Main Street in October 2015.

Residents of one largely African-American neighborhood fled at 2 a.m. as water began to infiltrate their homes during the night. The County Record of July 20, 1916, noted that the wind had uprooted trees, or torn them to pieces limb by limb. Downtown, there were broken plate glass windows, shredded awnings and signs destroyed. Every street in town was thickly strewn with debris. That Friday, only the drugstores were open in downtown Kingstree. Telephone and light lines were down in many places, and the town was in darkness Friday night.

As the water rushed to the swamp, carrying with it every moveable object in its path, a great quantity of lumber and debris formed a sort of dam which helped to wash out the railroad track. In some places, the water carried away so much of the roadbed that the track was suspended in water.

Looking north from the overpass on Nelson Blvd, October 2015.

Kingstree gradually recovered, but then on September 1, 1928, a Category 4 storm which first hit West Palm Beach, FL, made a second landfall as a Category 1 storm near Beaufort, SC, bringing very heavy rainfall. Black River was already full due to a rainy summer, and with the heavy rains from the storm, it rose six-feet in two days, bringing fears that much of the town would flood. 

The railroad trestle was undermined and washed away. In an attempt to save the concrete surface on the Charleston Highway, the State Highway Department hauled in sandbags and granite, but water was rushing over the causeway just below the main bridge. Both the Wee Nee Beach Pavilion and the buildings at Boswell's Beach were inundated. Telephone service to Kingstree was knocked out by the storm but was re-established quickly, as was the telegraph connection to Columbia, Charleston, and Florence. The stores and warehouses on East Main Street once again experienced severe flooding.

Railroad Avenue, October 2015

Residents of Greeleyville and Salters were completely cut off, and with supplies running low, they resorted to rationing.

Two State Highway Department officials, E.Z. Martin and my grandfather, John Brown, attempted to go by boat to examine the condition of the Lower Bridge. Their boat struck a submerged limb in the deep water and overturned, dumping them into the swift current. They managed to reach the relative safety of a tree top where they were marooned until Ardell Gamble rescued them.

Schools in Kingstree were closed, although most businesses that were not flooded were open. However, they were unable to take deliveries and soon began running out of goods. People were traversing the waist-deep water on East Main Street in boats. 

Longstreet St. October 2015. Note the high water mark on the building.

Long Street (as it was known in the 1920s. I'm not sure when it became one word.) was impassable. A contemporary newspaper account noted that "traffic from Florence can only pass through Kingstree by turning off the Main Highway before entering town and going through Logan's Thicket and into town by the high school."

The State of Thursday, September 20, noted, "On Academy Street, the lowest residential block in town between the Presbyterian Church and Gilland Avenue, is a lake and in some places a rushing stream. ... Lawns are under water, with the tops of shrubbery waving about the surface. A chorus of frogs adds a touch of liveliness to the dismal picture."

Woodland Drive, October 2015

Black River crested at 18 feet, three inches, higher than the week before when it had already broken records. The Highway Department dynamited parts of the causeway near the Lower Bridge to give the river more room. In Kingstree, the hotel and boarding houses were filled with stranded traveling salesmen, who were itching to be on their way. Grocery stores in town began rationing items as they were unable to replenish supplies. A week after the river crested, the Court of General Sessions convened and immediately adjourned as only six jurors were present at roll call.

In September, 1945, the river again flooded as a result of a hurricane. It crested at 16.07 feet on September 20. While flooding was serious, most of the news coverage in the area was concentrated on the Gourdin community, where one person lost his life and 100 buildings were destroyed by the wind from the storm, according to Williamsburg County Sheriff Pearless Lambert. 

In June, 1973, the river crested at 19.77 feet, breaking all previous records. Twenty-five families were forced from their homes as the river rose. The heavy rains damaged approximately a quarter of the tobacco crop. The water receded, and residents began once again to pick up the pieces. 

From the Lamar Johnson Bridge, October 2015.

However, the worst flooding on Black River occurred in October, 2015, when a low pressure stalled over the area,  pulling in moisture from tropical storm Joaquin. The river broke all records, cresting at 22.65 feet on October 7.