Scott's Branch shelter survivors moved to Camp Bob Cooper

Samanthan McFadden woke up early Sunday morning to water coming into both sides of her small home at Meadowfield Apartments in Summerton. “It was up to my hip by the time the Sheriff’s Office came to evacuate,” McFadden said. “We had to go out into the street to wait for the bus to come pick us up. The water was coming up so rapidly, it got up to my chest.” McFadden was one of about 80 folks left at a Red Cross shelter set up at Scott’s Branch High School in Summerton due to this week’s historic flood. She was moved along with her fellow survivors late Friday afternoon to Camp Bob Cooper. “They told us we will go there, and we will just take it two weeks at a time,” McFadden said. Kevin Brunson was at his home on Rooseveld Drive, behind Meadowfield, when he was evacuated about 6 a.m. Monday. “Meadowfield is kind of on a hill,” Brunson said. “The water rushed down that hill and got to my house like a wave. It knocked the floor loose from the house. Water came up to my porch. I just watched it rise in shock. My Cadillac was gone. I couldn’t even see it no more.” Brunson said he had to practically remove his front door from the hinges to get out of the house. “My girlfriend, my neighbor, their baby, we had to all go,” Brunson said. “We called the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office to get us out. They came in a SUV.” Unlike McFadden, Brunson has been back to view the damage to his home. “There’s a lot of water damage, and there’s a real bad smell in my house,” he said. “No sooner than I opened the door, I saw something like a snake. It’s just bad all the way around.” McFadden said she hadn’t been back to her home because, as a Red Cross volunteer herself, she’s been helping maintain the shelter at Scott’s Branch. “I wasn’t able to grab anything before I left, except my pocket book,” she said. “At one point, I had an arm of clothes, but then I accidentally left them. I wish I had had that set of clothes.” Deacon Samuel Green, who lives on Possum Street within Summerton town limits, said he was evacuated from his home about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. “The water just came up through the house,” he said. “We’ve been back to check. There’s water in there and mold. I’m thankful that we had somewhere to go.” McFadden agreed. “I don’t feel bad,” she said. “One door closes, another opens. My mind has been on keeping people encouraged. It’s been on keeping people focused away from something they can’t change.” Green said he’s been just overwhelmed by “the kindness everyone has shown.” “I thank God for the people who have helped us,” he said. “I thank God for everyone praying for us. I thank God for the people who want to come to us but can’t.” And he also said he thanks God for the county employees and volunteers. “God bless them to keep up the good work,” he said. “They’ve been looking out for us pretty good.”