Having lived most of her life in Pennsylvania, Alex Solt is used to the last-minute grocery store runs before a major storm.

Solt said she saw none of that as she went shopping this weekend in Columbia, South Carolina, just before record rainstorms struck the area, causing flooding, power outages, and loss of public water."I don't think anybody thought it would have been as big as it was," the Palmerton native said Monday. She is studying law at the University of South Carolina.The unprecedented storm brought 16.6 inches of rain that fell at Gills Creek near downtown Columbia, where USC is located.Hurricane Joaquin missed the East Coast, but fueled what experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called a "fire hose" of tropical moisture that aimed directly at the state. By Monday, the heaviest rains had moved into the mid-Atlantic states, but not before making history in South Carolina.Sunday was one of the rainiest days recorded at a U.S. weather station in more than 16 years.The governor has said the deluge is the kind of storm seen only once in 1,000 years.The state Department of Transportation said nearly 500 roads and bridges were still closed Tuesday morning. Many of those were in the Columbia area.Solt lives near the capitol and the university, where damage is limited.But key bridges and highways connecting it to the rest of the area have been flooded. The entire city has been without fresh water since Sunday evening. Solt said her water went out around 6 p.m., just when a curfew went into effect, keeping her from going out for water."If we would have known, we probably would have taken a shower quickly," she said.Solt said that she was able to venture out of her waterless apartment for the first time around noon Monday, when the water had made some bridges in and out of the city passable.She said most stores were sold out of bottled water, but they got word that a local Lowe's was selling cases of water because of the emergency."Lowe's had pallets of it, but there was a limit of two per person," she said.Before the storm, there was no talk of evacuating the area. Now, residents are unable to leave because of continued flooding on key highways. Solt said that she has been much luckier than some friends living outside the city. She said one friend shared a photo of the road in front of their house completely washed away by floodwaters."It looks like it's Photoshopped almost," she said. "An entire chunk of the road is missing."Classes at USC were canceled through Tuesday.That may seem trivial, but it is a sign that the issues may not be going away any time soon."This is not over. Just because the rain stops does not mean that we are out of the woods," Gov. Nikki Haley said Monday."I fear the worst is to come. We have a power substation under water. No telling when that thing gets fixed," Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett said.At least 11 weather-related deaths in South Carolina and two in North Carolina were blamed on the vast rainstorm, including those of six people who drowned in their cars in Columbia alone. A solid week of rainfall also sent about 1,000 to shelters and left about 40,000 without drinkable water.The campus has brought in portable toilets for students whose dorms are without water and sewer service."We haven't gotten much communication about what to be expecting," Solt said. "They're just kind of inundated outside the campus area."The flooding forced hundreds of weekend rescues and threatened the drinking water supply for Columbia, with officials warning some could be without potable water for days because of water main breaks. The capital city told all 375,000 of its water customers to boil water before drinking.The Associated Press contributed to this report.