City employees are installing boulders as they work to repair a dike break at Columbia’s downtown canal and water plant, while others are trying to find all the breaks in water lines that feed the capital city and rural Lower Richland in the aftermath of historic floods.

At least 12 water line breaks have been identified, but, “We’re going to find a lot more than that,” assistant city manager Missy Gentry said Monday. City crews and private contractors are working on the dike and trying to isolate the number of breaks, she said.

City officials would not say how many water customers were without water since the weekend deluge of record-setting proportions. “The core of the city was without water,” Gentry said at an afternoon briefing. Some customers have been restored, but they could lose water again as workers cut off valves to do repairs on nearby lines....

Mayor Steve Benjamin estimates the damage to personal property and infrastructure will reach at least $1 billion in the Midlands, if not more. “I believe things are going to get worse before they get better,” he said.