​South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) Acting Secretary Christy A. Hall announces that SCDOT employee Timothy Wayne Gibson, 45, died in flood waters on Garners Ferry Road in Columbia on Sunday, October 4 while overseeing work being done at that location. Mr. Gibson was a highway worker in SCDOT’s Richland Maintenance Unit. The SCDOT truck in which he was traveling was caught in rushing flood waters, overturned and was swept away. Richland County Coroner Gary Watts stated that the cause of death appears to be drowning. However an autopsy will be performed on Monday, October 5. More information may be released following the autopsy. Mr. Gibson represented hundreds of SCDOT workers who have been working around the clock all around the state since record-setting rains have deluged most of South Carolina. "The entire SCDOT family grieves for the loss of Timothy Gibson," said Acting Secretary Hall. "We are proud of the way he served the citizens of South Carolina. He did not hesitate to put his life on the line to protect the public during the current state of emergency. All of us at SCDOT offer our thoughts and prayers for Timothy Gibson and his family," she added. Mr. Gibson had been employed at SCDOT since February of 2013. He was a Columbia resident. He is survived by his wife Allison Gibson, a daughters Rachel and Kimberly and a son, Timothy, Jr. The U.S. Coast Guard has changed the search to a hunt for survivors after covering over 70,000 square miles covered. The USCG commented "we believe it sank in the last known position on Thursday, Search for survivors continues."   They had recovered a life boat which had markings making it appear to belong to El Faro with  "no signs of life there", other life saving devices were also found with no survivors present. One person in survival suit was declared deceased and was not recovered at the time do to the fast moving mission to find survivors. The USCG confirmed this further by specifying "We modified our search effort to focus on life saving." The USCG now has 3 cutters, 3 tugs, as well as a full schedule of aircraft for today focusing on smaller objects at sea. "We will hopefully find survivors, that is our focus."  When questioned about what conditions the crew would of been facing at the time of the incident, it was made clear that a Joaquin at the time was a 4 hurricane and "challenging conditions to survive in" consisting of 50 foot seas and 144 mph winds.  Vessels of this size are known to be easily capsized when confronted with heavy winds and rough seas, and this shortcoming would be increased with the loss of power and flooding issues as reported in their final communications at 7:00 AM Thursday.