Heavy flooding leaves local family looking for answers
WAGENER, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - A family in Wagener has been struggling with flooding and sitting rainwater for months, leaving them stranded.
When the flooding gets bad, even emergency vehicles can’t get to them. We found out who’s responsible for the road after big washouts.
When rain comes into rural communities, flooding can be an issue, and there’s a challenge to fix the problem.
The family wants answers to the flooding, which is impacting not only them but their business.
“We were ready to cut the hay last year when it happened. It ruined four or five acres right down to the middle of the field, and we had to go in there and basically bush hog and salvage off just because you couldn’t use it. It had so much debris and trash in it,” said Tommy Swartz, landowner.
Flooding off of Cedar Creek Road in Aiken County is an issue for Swartz and his family, who have been on this property since 1989 and have only seen it over the past year.
“Last July, we had a pretty substantial rainfall in less than an hour, and we had a major amount of water coming down through the middle of the field. I mean, I’m talking three-foot deep and 40-foot-wide river coming down, and then it just all dumped into the pond,” he said.
Aiken County says Cedar Creek Road runs downhill where water is naturally going to go and when the rain picks up, the flooding gets worse, even to the point of them fearing emergency vehicles not being able to assist.
“We had an ambulance get stuck in the middle of the road. That’s pretty ridiculous. I’ve had health problems. You know, we never know what anybody’s gonna face tomorrow. But we want to keep the roads accessible,” he said.
The county says they’ve spent $30,000 to $50,000 trying to solve the issue, along with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, they say the only solution is to pave the road and install the proper drainage systems.
With rain in the forecast ahead of the next couple of days, the family says all they can do is hope for the best.
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