South Carolina floods: A priest braved waist-deep water to rescue a coffin that was floating away

A priest waded through waist-deep water to rescue coffins that had floated away in a cemetery during unprecedented floods in the US state of South Carolina.

The severity of the floods has forced coffins out of the ground in the cemetery of New Canaan Methodist Church in the town of Ridgeville.

Fed up with the authorities not doing anything to stop the coffins floating away, Wayne Reeves decided to enter the dirty flood water and drag the coffins back to dry land himself.

"I waited all day and nobody did anything, so I decided - out of respect for this family - I would do whatever's necessary," Reeves told NBC News-affiliate WCBD.

Reeves defied orders from a Dorchester County sheriff's deputy not to enter the water because of the risk of disease.

"But that's not who we are," Reeves said. "This is America, and we're not like that."

He admitted he was going to go home and "take a hot bath and wash with a little bleach".

At least 12 people have been confirmed dead in the floods, while tens of thousands of others have lost their homes.

An estimated 17 inches of rain fell at Charleston International Airport between Thursday and Monday, the National Weather Service said.

President Obama has declared a state of emergency and promised to free up resources to help the recovery efforts.