On radio Monday, Glenn gave an update on the historic flooding in South Carolina and shared ways to help. Kelly Golden, the morning show host on affiliate 94.3 WSC in Charleston, South Carolina, joined Glenn to give him the details of the "1,000-year flood."
"Charleston is the home of that horrific shooting that happened earlier this year," Glenn said. "Now there's another tragedy unfolding there. This one from natural causes."
Golden described more of what she and other residents are seeing.
"It's unprecedented" Golden said. "I remember walking out of my house in Somerville, not far from the city center, and it looked like a bomb had gone off. And now, it's just - when it comes to rising waters and damage and all of this is still happening, Glenn, as we're still trying to wrap our arms around this."
The flooding has claimed several lives and helicopter rescues have been ongoing. So how can you help?
Golden told Glenn she has been asking people to make a $10 donation to American Red Cross Disaster Relieve by simply texting "REDCROSS" to 90999.
"The Red Cross has boots on the ground with us, helping us from here until however long it takes," Golden said. "You can text REDCROSS to 90999. And just when you do, that's a $10 donation to help us get things back together."
Listen to the dialogue here or read the transcript below.
Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors.
GLENN: When it rains on a community, it pours. That's the saying. And, boy, have they seen it in this community.
Kelly Golden is the morning show host on our affiliate 94.3 WSC in Charleston, South Carolina.
Charleston is the -- is the home of that horrific shooting that happened earlier this year. Now there's another tragedy unfolding there. This one from natural causes. It's called the Low Country, this area, and it's because obviously it's low. And that can cause real problems if there's ever any flooding. And they're now experiencing 1,000-year flood. And the governor says that it -- it's not over yet. Welcome to the program, Kelly Golden. How are you?
KELLY: Man, meeting like this, Glenn.
GLENN: I know. You guys have had a really rough year.
KELLY: Yeah.
GLENN: Tell me what's going on now.
KELLY: It's incredible. Well, we, of course, have the National Guard mobilized statewide. It's unprecedented. As the governor said, it's a 1,000-year flood. This is something that folks, even living here through Hugo, 27 years ago, which was a category ballooning off our coast, five storm, came down to a three upon impact, but was one of the biggest things that folks can remember in their lifetime around here.
And I remember walking out of my house in Somerville, not far from the city center, and it looked like a bomb had gone off. And now, it's just -- when it comes to rising waters and damage and all of this is still happening, Glenn, as we're still trying to wrap our arms around this. But it's stuff unprecedented that we haven't ever seen before. Where the little stream or ditch on the side of the house had now turned into in all seriousness, a raging river that has overtaken entire neighborhoods.
GLENN: Like downtown Charleston, like we were. Is that affected? How much of that area is affected?
KELLY: The entire state practically, Glenn, is affected. I mean, there has been 30 inches of rain that has fallen from downtown Charleston where many folks, you know, know about the Emanuel nine. That is literally being closed off to anyone but residents, including our barrier islands for the last two days.
GLENN: Wow.
KELLY: We have -- think of 30 inches of rain. That sounds insane because it is. And that has fallen, as you said, on the Low Country. And unfortunately, that amount of rain went from the low country on Saturday night, straight up the heart of our state to sit on our capitol in Columbia in the middle of our state. And devastated and unfortunately killed people there. We know at least five people are dead because of these floodwaters. And that includes Department of Transportation workers. First responders who are trying to get out and help people who shouldn't be out in the first place. I mean, we're still under a state of emergency at this point.
GLENN: How can we help, Kelly?
KELLY: Well, we are asking folks because we understand that people love and want to give and care, and that is so appreciated, to text -- it's a 10-dollar donation, to Red Cross. You can text Red Cross to 90999. The Red Cross has boots on the ground with us, helping us from here until however long it takes. I'm sure you'll put that up on your website. But you can text Red Cross to 90999. And just when you do, that's a 10-dollar donation to help us get things back together.
At this point, we still have people performing swift water rescues, literally by helicopter. There's a young water who just got pulled off of her roof Katrina-style into a basket, clutching her newborn baby. I mean, the situation really is still, you know, no pun intended, fluid. The water that I mentioned that went from the Low Country up to the upper part of our state is going to unfortunately, Glenn, flow back down. And by Thursday, we're talking about record river swells.
GLENN: How much warning did you guys have?
KELLY: We have been talking about this at least on our news talk station here at 94.3 WUSC for the better part of last week. Folks from the -- you know, emergency operation folks. We knew this was coming. Just didn't know how bad it would be. And for how long. I mean, we just, unfortunately, got stuck in a sandwich of a situation that left a soaker on top of us for almost 36 hours, which is just unreal.
GLENN: So this is not an overstatement to say this is South Carolina's Katrina.
KELLY: Yes. Absolutely. You know, to see businesses washed -- you know, literally wash away during live broadcast, you know, with news reporters. To see, you know, businesses gutted. There was one restaurant, the water was flowing almost 20 feet just straight through the restaurant. It took all of -- you know, out of the restaurant, all the chairs, tables. You see the huge, you know, industrial refrigerators floating by and at a massive rate. I mean, just dangerous situations happening -- breaking out all over our state. I mean, 30 inches of water is literally pushing coffins out of the ground in Ridgeville, not far from the city center in Charleston.
GLENN: Where are people being housed?
KELLY: Believe it or not, after doing the rounds of the emergency operation centers throughout the morning here, not that many people -- even though they have 5 feet of water in their homes -- are in shelters. We have a couple of hundred just in the Tri county. Big different story if you look statewide. But I can just speak for my area. A lot of people are really helping each other out. As we do, Glenn. You know in times like this, we -- this is where we do show our true love for one another. Neighbor's neighbor.
GLENN: Kelly, thank you so much. And, again, if you want to help the Red Cross is on the scene. And we encourage you. And I'm sure that Mercury One is going to be involving themselves as well. Thank you very much, Kelly. I appreciate it.
KELLY: Glenn, thank you.
GLENN: God bless. That area is being prepared for something. I mean, they're -- they are -- they're being stripped down to nothing. And being prepared for -- for a leadership role in something, I think. Because they have proven themselves to be remarkable people. The kind of place that you want to live in, after we saw what happened with the shooting and now this. These are the kind of people you want to be around.
PAT: Yeah. The way they've handled everything is just really remarkable. You can text -- she said text Red Cross, right? To 90999.
Featured Image: Charlene Stennis is escorted to safety after her son was rescued from a stranded vehicle in a flooded roadway October 4, 2015 in Columbia, South Carolina. South Carolina experiencied a record rainfall, with at leasrt 11.5 inches falling October 3. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)