ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) – More than a hundred roads across Orangeburg County remain closed due to flooding from heavy rain Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, the South Carolina Highway Patrol said.

SCDOT expects cleanup efforts to continue through the weekend and into next week. Crews are still trying to assess how long repairs to these roads will take.

Edisto Deputy Fire Chief Jordan Demsey assisted in a water rescue around 8 a.m. Friday after a car drove across this broken bridge into Roberts Swamp.

Demsey told me that both passengers had minor injuries but were able to exit the vehicle before he arrived. He believes water levels in the Edisto River are still rising and says most of the closures are due to flooding of roads and bridges.

He urges people to avoid areas that are still closed, such as Binnicker Bridge Road, saying people are risking their lives by ignoring barricades.

“If you fall into that water or get stuck under asphalt that’s also under that water, then you won’t be able to find your way up,” Dempsey said. “You can get disoriented and not know which is which.” “It’s up the road, so we say it’s best to stay off road closures.”

SCDOT’s Hannah Robinson says they don’t have an exact timeline yet for how long it will take to get everything cleared and reopened. He said there were crews from across the Palmetto state assessing the damage as of Wednesday.

“We even have teams from different areas helping Orangeburg now,” Robinson said. “Everything is done hands-on there, so we will get this done and get this area back to normal.”

Robinson said these teams will continue to clean up debris from Hurricane Helene. Outside the Midlands, they plan to bring in workers from Charlston and Greenville as needed to assist with recovery efforts.

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