Yeah Columbia has been under a boil water advisory all week. Its really caused a lot of havoc at the hospitals. We had no drinkable water at work all week, so the cafeterias been closed, and they've had bottled water available.
The damage is really sad. So many livelihoods ruined. My wife and I volunteered yesterday in Irmo, and helped demo a few homes. It was really sad. House after house had all of their belongings piled up on the street in huge trash piles. We stripped two houses down to the frame.
The homeowners seemed to be in pretty good spirits. Although there was one home where the homeowners hadnt let anyone in. All of there stuff was still inside, and it was obvious the lady was in denial, cause mold was everywhere and she was still trying to salvage things. We finally convinced her to let is clean the house out, but when we started pulling things out a FEMA official said dont bother, the house is being condemned and is gonna be bulldozed. Very sad. Another woman said she didnt need help because she had signed a contract with servpro. So she is going to end up paying thousands for what the volunteers would do for free. A lot of predatory businesses and scammers are taking advantage of people.
Overall though, It really was amazing seeing all of the volunteers from all over the midlands come together to help.
Those not working cleanup were bringing water and Gatorade's to the workers, or fetching/shuttling tools. There was even a family that bought a shit ton of chick fil-a sandwiches, and was riding through the neighborhood passing them out.
