{"id":674,"date":"2026-05-29T14:11:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=674"},"modified":"2026-05-29T14:11:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:11:49","slug":"irmo-neighborhood-hit-with-a-wave-of-water-residents-question-the-source","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=674","title":{"rendered":"Irmo neighborhood hit with a \u2018wave of water.\u2019 Residents question the source."},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Within one minute, Laura Easley Hayes\u2019 home in an Irmo neighborhood was flooded with what she described as a \u201cwave of water.\u201d It broke her door, tore apart her fence, totaled two cars, and insurance won\u2019t cover any of it because the Stonegate neighborhood is not in a flood zone, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=672\">How SC school board member\u2019s Black History Month comments set off a firestorm<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>A severe thunderstorm warning was issued in Richland County Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service, right before Stonegate was hit with a surge of water.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Stonegate residents said they were confused by how quickly everything happened. Even with a small creek behind the neighborhood, heavy rain has never caused intense flooding or strong currents before.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverybody is questioning it,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cSomething had to happen. It doesn\u2019t seem like it was the creek.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The creek hadn\u2019t risen much when Hayes went to help a neighbor around 6 p.m. Saturday who lived in a low spot in the street where rainwater collected. Her house was fine when she left, she said.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t until another neighbor began to shout minutes later that Hayes realized her cars and her home were nearly underwater. Her security camera footage shows that just a minute before, her living room was completely dry.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll of my boys came barreling out,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cMy three kids and my two dogs and my cat came running out this door. I couldn\u2019t get back in because the floodwater was high.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<h2>Building and rebuilding<\/h2>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Hayes wasn\u2019t the only one who now has to \u201cstart all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>On Hayes\u2019 street, curbs are piled with debris, moldy furniture, and pieces of wooden fences from backyards, many of which were destroyed by the intensity of the rushing water. Her neighbors are all working to try and fix what was broken, Hayes said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Many of them, like Hayes, cannot get insurance money because the neighborhood is not in a flood zone. Hayes has gotten three repair quotes so far. But it\u2019s lost money she never accounted for, Hayes said.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI moved in here with my kids and myself, and I had nothing. And now I\u2019m watching all my stuff go to the curb.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Her three sons helped clear away some of the ruined keepsakes, including \u201ca whole lifetime of pictures.\u201d Most of them were of her sons as children.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Couches, clothes, a box of Christmas decorations, throw pillows, Star Wars movies, books, and photo albums still wet from the rain, sit on her curb.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=671\">Boom shakes South Carolina, rattling Columbia and raising questions about the cause<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI built all of this as a single woman,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cI got divorced after 23 years and I had to rebuild that life, and I did. And I was so proud of that. And now I\u2019m rebuilding again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<h2>Neighbors step up<\/h2>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Without financial support from insurance or any available resources to help Stonegate residents rebuild, they\u2019ve begun to rely on each other.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>A Facebook group was created. Unaffected neighbors came to help at damaged properties. Members of the group have posted videos and photos of the flooding Saturday and have reached out to city council members in the hopes of getting support.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur neighborhood has limited resources,\u201d Stonegate resident Racheal Savage said. \u201cA lot of us are single moms. I\u2019m a single mom. It\u2019s hurting us financially, and we have no resources except the community that we\u2019ve built ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<h2>Where did the water come from?<\/h2>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>More than one resident described the flood as a \u201criver.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Savage and her three children, all under the age of 8, were just getting over the flu. They had been watching movies together inside for weeks. She noticed the rain was heavy and took a few photos. Water started to pour in through her door shortly after. By then, the crawlspace beneath her house was flooded.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Savage picked her children up.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI carried them out through the water,\u201d Savage said. \u201cThere was a strong current. My kids couldn\u2019t have walked through it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The intensity and direction of the water made residents question whether the creek caused the overflow.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only other time this flooded was in \u201815 when everybody flooded. And of course then everybody has FEMA to help,\u201d Hayes said after speaking with her neighbors.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Hayes and Savage are both staying with friends until they figure out what is next.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Even if she decides to rebuild, Hayes worries about the future of her \u201cused-to-be sanctuary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we don\u2019t figure out what happened upstream that caused that wave, it\u2019s going to happen again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=670\">How SC school board member\u2019s Black History Month comments set off a firestorm<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Severe thunderstorm in Richland County sent a rapid flood through Irmo&#39;s Stonegate. Residents face major losses, limited insurance, and a search for causes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Irmo neighborhood hit with a \u2018wave of water.\u2019 Residents question the source. - US Moving Experts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=674\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Irmo neighborhood hit with a \u2018wave of water.\u2019 Residents question the source. - US Moving Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Severe thunderstorm in Richland County sent a rapid flood through Irmo&#039;s Stonegate. 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