Stunning Images from South Carolina Show the Devastating Impact of Hurricane Joaquin

Impact

Over the weekend, rains from Hurricane Joaquin combined with downpour from a separate weather system to cause historic rainfall and flooding across South Carolina. As storm water drenched the Palmetto State, in the sort of rainfall that happens only once every 1,000 years, images and footage of the devastation have spread through the Internet.

Rescue crews have been working around the clock on evacuation and relief efforts in the state. "There's probably around 100 people in the West Columbia area still trapped in their homes," Wyatt Coleman, fire Chief of West Columbia, a city in South Carolina's central region, told the Weather Channel on Monday. Authorities reported at least six storm-related deaths since Friday.

Speaking to USA Today, state Rep. Kirkman Finlay III said flooding in the region was "worse than you think."

On Friday, before the worst of the storm hit, President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for South Carolina, readying the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency to respond with disaster relief. By Monday morning, more than 18 inches of rain had hammered the state in under 24 hours and knocked out power for almost 30,000 residents, CBS News reports. 

Rescue crews evacuated one woman who went into labor at her home and was stranded due to high water, the Associated Press reports.

Here are images of the storm's destruction and of disaster relief efforts across South Carolina:

Chuck Burton/AP
Chuck Burton/AP
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Gerry Broome/AP
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Mladen Antonov/Getty Images
Mic Smith/AP
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Chuck Burton/AP
Chuck Burton/AP
Chuck Burton/AP