Homeless scramble for shelter in flood-ravaged South Carolina

Hurricane Joaquin caused record-breaking flooding this weekend, forcing more than 1,000 people in South Carolina from their homes. Most will return when the water recedes, but for the state's homeless, the situation is more difficult.

As the storm dropped almost two feet of rain in some places on Friday, the public libraries and fast-food restaurants where many of the state’s 6,000 homeless spend their days started closing down. Rushing floodwaters kept people from retreating to the overhangs and alcoves in public areas that could keep them dry during an ordinary storm.

The consequences of not seeking shelter can be deadly. As of Wednesday afternoon, 15 people have died, nine drowning and six killed in car crashes related to the deluge, Reuters reported. 

“When the weather is this terrible — and the weather has been very bad, it’s the most steady rain I’ve ever seen in South Carolina — the homeless folks who sleep outside, that doesn’t work any more,” said Craig Currey, head of Transitions, a downtown Columbia shelter that tried to keep hundreds warm and fed over the weekend.

Hundred of people in Columbia headed to homeless shelters during the storm, and officials opened an extra emergency facility, the Inclement Weather Center, a city owned shelter that normally doesn't operate until November, when temperatures dip.

Transitions, which has its own separate facility, runs the IWC each winter on the city's behalf. The city of Columbia asked Currey to open it with just a few hours notice.

Joaquin’s toll on the city’s infrastructure has made delivering services more difficult. Right now 375,000 people across South Carolina are under a “boil-water advisory,” a measure officials deem necessary because pipes broken by the storm could release bacteria into the water supply, the AP reported.

Problems with city water have presented a major hurdle for people trying to care for the needy. On Saturday night, with more than 300 people sheltering at the IWC, the water pressure went out — meaning no water for drinking, bathing or toilets.

“It was like, ‘What else can go wrong now?’” Currey said. Transitions asked the city for help, as the dangerous rate of rainfall trapped the IWC’s homeless inside.

“Almost immediately we started to get donations of bottled water. It meant a lot to the folks here, because, gee whiz, we were on the edge. People weren’t being able to go to the bathroom, shower, drink. You don’t last long in that type of environment.”

Currey said he hopes that in the future, the city can plan ahead for the opening of IWC. The water pressure is back on, Currey said, and the running water is safe to shower with — but not to drink. For now, Transitions is still relying on emergency water distribution. 

“Maybe we’ll find an easier way to do this when the next emergency hits. It’s hard, the special effort to make things work,” Currey said. “Sometimes it’s nicer to have that planned, and we’ll be talking with the city. Hopefully there is no next one like this one.”

Like the city’s decision to open the IWC for the weekend, the storm itself came as a surprise to some of the homeless families at The Family Shelter, a shelter in Columbia that has 15 dormitory rooms meant for families.  

“Many get caught off guard,” said Family Shelter Executive Director Stephanie Stuckey, adding that most homeless don’t have access to television or other media to monitor weather.

On Sunday, problems forced the Family Shelter to send families to Transitions or other temporary shelters. Again, the issue was over a lack of water. With gas already shut off due to kitchen renovations, The Family Shelter couldn’t boil drinking water.

It was a “perfect storm” of problems, Stuckey told Al Jazeera. She said she hoped the families could return Tuesday.  

The situation has been hard to understand for children who were accustomed to staying at the shelter.

“Are we going to be able to come back? Are we going see you again?” Stuckey said one child had asked her. “When they’re here, they know where they’ll wake up everyday.”