A massive cold emergency and cleanup is underway at the state’s largest food bank in Greenville on Monday.Freezing temperatures caused a water pipe to burst at the Harvest Hope Food Bank, causing flooding throughout the building and Food supplies were threatened, officials said. Harvest Hope, located at 2818 Whitehorse Road, is South Carolina’s largest food bank, providing more than 50,000 meals a week to the hungry, according to its website. offers. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of food was endangered in half of the building, including freezers and refrigerators. An employee found several broken pipes spraying water into the area below. About 30 cars were waiting for food at the time. Those people had to be turned away and about 50 more vehicles were added, officials said. said there was a problem with The water has flooded most of the building, including offices and conference rooms in the distribution portion of the building, and is flowing into areas where food is stored. Officials said food banks would lose more than $1 million in food if the water reached the freezers. Water was reportedly arriving, but has not yet arrived.
A massive cold emergency and cleanup is underway in Greenville on Monday at the state’s largest food bank.
Sub-zero temperatures cause water pipes to Harvest Hope Food Bank It ruptured, causing flooding throughout the building and threatening food supplies, officials said.
Harvest Hope, located at 2818 Whitehorse Road, is South Carolina’s largest food bank, serving more than 50,000 meals a week to the hungry, according to its website.
Watch Peyton Furtado’s live report from WYFF News 4 at noon below.
Half the buildings, including freezers and refrigerators, have lost power and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of food has been lost.
Officials said the first employees arrived at the building around 7:15 a.m. and opened the door to a “tsunami” about seven inches deep.
Employees found several broken pipes spraying water onto the area below.
About 30 cars were lined up waiting for food at the time, officials said. They had to drive back those people and about 50 more cars, officials said.
Officials said the pipe ruptured between Friday night and Monday morning, possibly over the weekend.
Bank officials brought WYFF News 4 photographer Lauren Fleming on an immersive walking tour through two to three inches of standing water.
At 9:30 am water was still flowing out of the pipes and officials said they had problems shutting off the water.
The water has flooded most of the building, including offices and conference rooms in the distribution portion of the building, and is flowing into areas where food is stored.
Officials said food banks would lose more than $1 million in food if the water reached the freezers.
Employees are loading trucks with as much food as they can and taking it to food banks in Colombia, officials said.
The Greenville Water crew were reportedly on their way, but have not yet arrived.
Stay tuned to WYFF News 4 for updates on this developing story.
