Rescuers searched early Wednesday for two people missing in floodwaters in South Carolina, while authorities urged residents in hundreds of homes to seek higher ground as a dam threatened to fail.
Emergency responders in Richland County said two people were unaccounted for after a truck they were in drove around road barriers and became submerged in floodwaters resulting from the historic rainfall in the state.
Three others inside the truck were able to escape to safety, said Lieutenant Curtis Wilson.
Deputies in that county were also going door-to-door asking residents in a low-lying area to evacuate as it appeared the Beaver Dam was in imminent danger of failing, they said.
"It's beyond repair at this time," said sheriff's Sergeant Kevin Lawrence.
Eleven dams have failed since the southeastern state was deluged in some places by more than 2 feet (60 cm) of rain since late last week.
The rainstorm was blamed for at least 15 deaths in South Carolina, including nine people who drowned and six who were killed in weather-related car crashes.
Nearly 300 state-maintained roads and about 140 bridges remained closed on Wednesday, state transportation officials said.
The National Weather Service warned that major river flooding would continue through the weekend in the state's Low Country even as water levels in much of that area receded.
