Batesburg-Leesville, SC 06/23/2023 (Paul Kirby) – Although much of Lexington County had stormy weather throughout the day Thursday, no area got pounded by the rains like Batesburg-Leesville. By the time the rain finally stopped falling, trees were down, Shealy’s Bar-B-Que was flooded, a car had been washed into a ditch and nearly swept away, and numerous roads were closed due to the flooding.
In the case of the car being swept off the road, firefighters from the Batesburg-Leesville Fire Department were assisted by specially trained and equipped crews from Lexington County after fast moving flooding crossed over Bethlehem Road. In some places, the roadside ditch was more like a raging river as the water barreled along. The occupants of the vehicle were quickly rescued and were unharmed, however, the car itself was a total loss.
Shealy’s Bar-B-Que flooded to the point that there was water quickly rising against the buffet equipment, furniture, and walls. After the storm, employees and a commercial cleaning crew came in and worked overnight to get them back open for their normal business hours on Friday.
Roads around the town in several places were so deep in water that they had to be closed completely. Augusta Road at the railroad trestle was one such spot where waters were estimated to be approximately 4 feet deep at one point. All of this drained away overnight but the ground is so saturated that even the smallest rainstorm over the next few days could wreak havoc again.
A search of the internet did not find a 24-hour total rainfall amount for the area posted for Thursday however, it should be interesting to see just how much rain fell in Batesburg-Leesville and the surrounding areas yesterday.
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