South Carolina flood: Thousands without running water

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- After a week of steady rain, the showers tapered off Monday and an inundated South Carolina turned to surveying a road system shredded by historic flooding, and in a cruel twist, thousands of residents faced the prospect of going days without running water.

The governor warned communities downstream, near the low-lying coast, that they may still see rising water and to be prepared for more evacuations. More than 900 people were already staying in shelters and nearly 40,000 people were without water.

At least 11 weather-related deaths in two states were blamed on the vast rainstorm.

On Monday, the rains moved north into North Carolina and the mid-Atlantic states. The rainstorm is part of an unprecedented system that dumped more than a foot of rain across South Carolina and drenched several other states.

Sunday was the wettest day in the history of South Carolina's capital city Columbia, according to the National Weather Service.

The 16.6 inches of rain that fell on Gills Creek near downtown Columbia on Sunday was the rainiest day in one single spot in the U.S. in more than 16 years, among weather stations with more than 50 years of record-keeping.

The last time there was that much rain in one spot on a single day in the U.S. was Sept. 16, 1999, when 18.3 inches fell on Southport, North Carolina, during Hurricane Floyd.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Monday said 550 roads and bridges were closed across the state. All will have to be checked for structural integrity, which could take weeks or longer.

"This is not over. Just because the rain stops does not mean that we are out of the woods," Haley said at a news conference.

Haley said nine people have died in the state since the storm started. Two additional weather-related deaths were reported in North Carolina.

Haley said 25 emergency shelters are open, housing more than 900 people. Utility crews, meanwhile, were working to restore power to 26,000 people still without power.

The flooding forced hundreds of weekend rescues and threatened the drinking water supply for Columbia, with officials warning some could be without potable water for days because of water main breaks. The capital city told all 375,000 of its water customers to boil water before drinking.

Elsewhere, nearly 75 miles of Interstate 95 -- the main link from the southeast U.S. to the northeast -- was closed.

Many schools and colleges, including the University of South Carolina, canceled classes Monday and Tuesday, and some businesses planned to stay shuttered. State climatologists have said the sun could peek out Tuesday.