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Publication Date October 22, 2015 | USGS

Floods in South Carolina Set 17 USGS Streamgage Records

United States
South Carolina was hit by severe flooding on Oct 4, 2015. Photo: CNN
South Carolina was hit by severe flooding on Oct 4, 2015. Photo: CNN

During the historic October 2015 floods in South Carolina, 17 U.S. Geological Survey streamgages recorded the highest peak streamflow and/or river height (or stage) since those streamgages were installed.

One of these streamgages, located on the Black River at Kingstree, South Carolina, recorded its largest peak in the 87 years it has existed.

"This was absolutely an historic flood for South Carolina," said John Shelton, the USGS hydrologist who oversaw the agency’s field response and gauging operations in South Carolina. "Throughout the event we continued to monitor our network of about 170 real-time streamgages, and we sent dozens of teams out in the field to verify what we were seeing. Fortunately, we have quite a few long-standing streamgages in South Carolina, so we can put these floods into historical context"

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