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ByCurtAndersonand Tony Winton The Associated Press JACKSONVILLE, FLA. The Coast Guard broke the news to grieving family mem- bers Wednesday that it was abandoning the search for the 33 mariners aboard a U.S. container ship that sank last week during Hur- ricane Joaquin, and inves- tigators turned their atten- tion to finding the vessel's data recorder 3 miles down at the bottom of the sea. An intensive search by air and sea over tens of thousands of square miles turned up one unidentified body in a survival suit and a heavily damaged lifeboat but no sign of survivors from the 790-foot El Faro, which was last heard from nearly from a week ago as it was being tossed around in rough seas. In announcing it would end the search at sunset, the Coast Guard all but confirmed family members' worst fears — that all hands were lost. On board were 28 crew members from the U.S. and five from Poland. "Any decision to suspend a search is painful," Coast Guard Capt. Mark Fedor said. "They did all they could." Even before the an- nouncement, hopes of find- ing anyone alive were fad- ing. "The ship went down. And there's no questioning the outcome of that. The ship has gone down, took everybody with it. There's really no speculation to be made," said Mary Shevory, mother of crew member Mariette Wright. Robert Green, father of LaShawn Rivera, held out hope despite the Coast Guard decision: "Miracles do happen, and it's God's way only. I'm prayerful, hopeful and still optimis- tic." The El Faro went down in 15,000 feet of water east of the Bahamas last Thurs- day after losing propulsion while attempting to out- run Joaquin along the ship's regular route from Jackson- ville to Puerto Rico, accord- ing to ship owner Tote Mar- itime and the Coast Guard. The captain reported the ship was listing and taking on water through an open hatch. Then transmissions ceased. The key to the mystery of what caused the ship to stall and sink may be in the voyage data recorder, simi- lar to the "black box" on an airliner. The device, pre- sumably pinging away in the blackness and crushing pressure on the sea floor, has a battery life of 30 days after it hits the water. Assuming the device can be located, the National Transportation Safety Board will work with the Coast Guard, Navy and other agencies to devise a way to bring it up, prob- ably using a remote-con- trolled, unmanned sub- mersible capable of diving great depths. Among the questions raised in the wake of the tragedy: What caused the ship to lose power? Did pressure to deliver the cargo on time play a role in the captain's decision to press ahead? Was the ship's advanced age — more than 40 years old — a factor? And was the mechanical trouble caused by work that was be- ing done in the engine room at the time? The recorder, required for all large ships since 2002, would contain radio communications, command discussions on the bridge, the ship's speed and head- ing, the condition of its hull, wind speed and radar read- ings. Generally the record- ers retain information from the 12 hours before they en- ter the water. "We want to find every bit of information that we possibly can," NTSB vice chair Bella Dinh-Zarr said. "We will be here as long as it takes." The ship left Jacksonville on Sept. 29 while Joaquin was still a tropical storm. Joaquin quickly developed into a powerful Category 4 hurricane, but Tote officials say its captain, Michael Da- vidson, had an acceptable plan to bypass the storm that would have worked had the ship not lost power amid 140 mph winds and 50-foot waves. The NTSB said a key part of the investigation is learn- ing how to prevent similar tragedies. Family members said they hope so, too. "I am hoping other com- panies will take a good look at when they're going to ship out, when they're going to set sail," Shevory said. "And not do it with a storm coming that can potentially become a hurricane." HURRICANE JOAQUIN Co as t Gua rd a ba nd on s se ar ch f or 3 3 mi ss in g cr ew m em be rs By Adam Beam and Meg Kinnard The Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. It could take until the weekend for the threat of flooding to ease in storm-tattered South Carolina, where a senator warned of a poten- tial billion-dollar cleanup bill, two more people died in the floodwaters and the flagship university sent a home football game 700 miles away. Rivers rose and dams bulged as storm water from days of heavy rains made its way to the Atlantic Ocean, causing a second round of flooding downstream. Gov. Nikki Haley paid a visit to the coast, which she said would still be in dan- ger for another 24-48 hours. "We're holding our breath and saying a prayer," she said. U.S. Senator Lindsey Gra- ham warned the disaster could "break the bank" of federal emergency funds, possibly topping more than $1 billion. In another image of the storm's otherworldly toll, state officials said caskets have popped out of the ground in 11 instances in six counties. At least 19 people in South Carolina and North Carolina have died in the storm, while many survi- vors returned home to dis- cover they'd lost everything. Wendy Dixon burst into sobs after realizing her wedding album and doz- ens of photos of her two sons and three grandchil- dren were destroyed. Overcome with emotion and barely able to walk across her waterlogged car- pet, Dixon grasped the arm of a niece inside the Colum- bia apartment. "Everything is gone!" she wailed. "My clothes and all can be replaced. But my lit- tle things, my pictures, are all gone." It was another anxious day of waiting for floodwa- ters to recede around the capital city. About 1,000 residents near the compro- mised Beaver Dam were told to evacuate Wednes- day morning, though the or- der was lifted several hours later when crews shored up the dam. Haley said 62 dams across the state were being monitored, and 13 had al- ready failed. However, she said South Carolina was fortunate that those repre- sented only a small fraction of 2,000 or so dams regu- lated by the state. At a news conference, Haley and other officials were asked repeatedly about whether the state had spent enough in previ- ous years to maintain dams and other infrastructure. "I think the analysis of this can be done after" the danger from the floods passes, she said in one testy response. But Graham said the fed- eral lifeline must be treated with care to avoid a "pork- laden monstrosity" like the federal government's aid package to the Northeast Hurricane Sandy in 2012. He warned state and county officials not to use the di- saster as an opportunity to ask for money unrelated to flood damage. He also said it would take weeks to get a reliable dam- age assessment. "We're talking hundreds of millions (of dollars), maybe over a billion," he said while visiting a shelter in Columbia. And in an extraordinary move for the football-crazy South, the University of South Carolina announced it was moving Saturday's football game against No. 7 LSU some 700 miles to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university said more than 80,000 fans expected for the game in Columbia would have put too much stress on weakened infra- structure. In two of the most recent storm-related deaths, depu- ties said the pickup's driver went around a barricade and plunged into the water at a 20-foot gap where pave- ment was washed out. Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Curtis Wilson said three people in the pickup truck managed to get to safety around 3 a.m. Wednesday. Divers found two others dead inside the truck sev- eral hours later. Richland County Sher- iff Leon Lott said all nine deaths in the county have come from people trying to drive in flooded areas. Offi- cers have located the cars belonging to several other missing people. HISTORIC RAINSTORM South Carolina still on edge from floods; 2 die in truck MICSMITH—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Jeanni Adame rides in her boat as she checks on neighbors in the Ashborough subdivision near Summerville, South Carolina. BOB MACK — THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, vice chairman for the National Transportation Safety Board, answers questions about the search and investigation Wednesday with Coast Guard Capt. Mark Fedor and Capt. Jason Neubauer. Advertisement IfthiswasyourService Directory ad customers would be reading it right now!! 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