COLUMBIA, SC (WSPA)- In recent years South Carolina has seen a change of weather that has caused more flooding in the state. Governor Henry McMaster also noticed the trend and created a commission to help improve the state’s preparation and response to flooding.
The South Carolina Floodwater Commission was created shortly after Hurricane Florence. But Hurricane Florence isn’t the only weather event that sparked a concern for flooding mitigation.
In 2015, Columbia experienced a “thousand year flood.” Both of these weather events demonstrated the power of water.
“We had dam breeches and a cascading effect that trickled down here to Columbia,” explained Tom Mullikin, the chairman of the commission.
The commission is tasked with analyzing weather trends and the state’s current position to handle extreme weather.
“Many of our rivers have not been dredge in decades because of issues with federal funding, our ditches and culverts we’re now focusing on we need a natural flow,” Mullikin added.
The commission is made up of 10 different task forces. Each task force addresses a different area in the state’s efforts to mitigate flooding in the state.
Mullikin continued, “We want to start with rebuilding our reef system off our beautiful coastline. Then we look at how we can protect our dunes systems.
The commission’s goal is control where the excess water flows and use it to the state’s benefit.
The commission is holding a public input meeting in Cheraw on August 26, 2019.
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