NICHOLS, SC (WBTW) – The small town of Nichols is seeing devastating impacts from Hurricane Matthew.
People there have had to evacuate after the heavy rains left everything there under water.
Andrew Thompson works for South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and he’s lived near that area his whole life.
“I’ve never seen this before. This is devastating. You take into account people’s lives and the livelihood and this is all they had,” said Thompson.
He and other officers with DNR have worked endlessly the last few days to get everyone out of their homes as the flood waters continued to rise.
“Once you get over the initial shock there’s definitely a fog that goes on and you ask yourself is this really happening in Nichols, South Carolina,” said Thompson.
Cars, churches, businesses, homes, and entire community is now under water.
DNR, National Guard, Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and so many others worked together to save about 200 people from their own homes.
“They knew that they had to get out because we did not know exactly how high the water would get and they were running low on food, water, and other necessities that they needed,” said Thompson.
Thompson says they’ve gotten mostly everyone out of their homes. Still, many people refuse to leave and are still inside their homes.