South Carolina senator confident Bennettsville will overcome effects of dam breach

BENNETTSVILLE, S.C. (WBTW) — A South Carolina senator encouraged residents who live near the Lake Paul Wallace Dam to evacuate their homes and stay safe after Tropical Storm Debby rolled through the Pee Dee following another breach.

State Sen. Gerald Malloy and Lake Paul Wallace Authority Chairman Sully Blair said emergency management services already helped residents evacuate their homes and seek shelter because the dam’s water levels rose Thursday morning.

Bennettsville Mayor Leith Fowler said he’s thankful the city only received between two and five inches of rain as opposed to 15. But Crooked Creek, next to the main breach of the Lake Paul Wallace Dam, already has more water than it can hold and the dam’s water levels rose quickly.

Malloy said the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has been working tirelessly to protect residents from Debby flooding and to eventually repair the main breach of the dam.

Malloy said he’s hoping the dam repairs will be added to the 2025-2026 DNR budget and he’s confident Bennettsville will overcome the effects of the dam’s main breach.

“This lake has been here for a long time. This county has been here for a longer period of time, and obviously, there’s work to be done,” Malloy said. “This is a little hiccup that we have to do. God is blessing us right now because we don’t have the rain we thought we were going to have. And we got some more work to end up doing. There will be flooding, but there will be people there that will be caretakers of those that are in need.”

Blair said the city of Bennettsville expects more rain from North Carolina. He and Malloy encouraged Marlboro County residents who live near the dam to evacuate their homes and seek shelter at Marlboro County High School to avoid heavy flooding.

* * *

Skylar Musick is a multimedia journalist at News13. Skylar is originally from Long Island, New York. She joined the News13 team in June 2024 after graduating from Villanova University in May 2024. Follow Skylar on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.