Heavy rains from a passing Nor’easter collided with high tides in Charleston Sunday, drowning the medical district and large swaths of the peninsula in knee-deep floodwaters, [closing roads](https://gis.charleston-sc.gov/road-closures-regional/) across the Lowcountry and trapping dozens of cars in the Holy City’s highest non-tropical tide on record.The Charleston tide gauge peaked at 9.86 feet, solidifying the low pressure system from the Gulf of Mexico as Charleston’s highest non-tropical tide on record and the fourth-highest tide of all time.Sunday’s tide is behind only Hurricane Hugo’s records of 12.52 feet in 1989, an unnamed storm in 1940 that brought tides of 10.23 feet and Hurricane Irma’s 9.92-foot levels in 2017 for the worst flooding since levels started being tracked a century ago, according to Courtney Maskell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.An average of four inches of rain doused the city, closing nearly 40 roads that were covered in knee-deep water.The rainfall tapered off this afternoon, and no additional flooding is expected this evening.Charleston’s flood warning expires at 5 p.m., but strong winds are expected to pick up this evening as the system moves away from South Carolina’s coast, which could bring downed trees and power outages, Maskell said.The effects weren’t confined to Charleston.
Water invaded Georgetown’s downtown, trapping cars and cutting off streets, while the storm spun off a tornado in Horry County that damaged homes in Forestbrook and Socastee.’A hot mess’ Sunday’s storm was part of a weather system known as a Nor’easter.They’re powerful storms that can pack punches similar to hurricanes.They typically begin along the East Coast and send punishing winds and water toward land as they trek along the coast.The Dec.
17 storm formed in the Gulf and moved North toward South Carolina.By late morning, high winds and drenching rain met a steadily rising tide.A cacophony of car alarms sounded throughout the peninsula this afternoon as floodwaters swamped vehicles on street after street, including several areas that seldom see flooding even in tropical storms.Streets around the medical complex were waist-deep in spots, as emergency vehicles crawled around stranded vehicles and masses of garbage and recycling bins drifted past stranded cars.
Three flooded vehicles were stranded at the intersection of Bennett and Gadsen, a locally notorious low spot that has claimed numerous cars over the years.A rideshare driver of a red Tesla pushed her floating car to higher ground.A fire engine blocked East Bay Street in the late morning as crews used long poles to try to clear drains along the road’s nexus with Calhoun Street.Stranded cars littered the area as rain continued to fall.Despite the threat, drivers kept trying to navigate the swollen streets, including one man in a Kia who had water coming over the hood of his car before he eventually reached safety by turning the wrong way onto Anson Street.
Before long, however, firefighters were called away to investigate a report of a person trapped in a flooded building along the City Market.More than 2 feet of water surged through the market, overwhelming the drainage system and making the streets all but impassable for most vehicles.Water bubbled and gurgled as it swirled around a public Christmas tree in the center of the Market and lapped at road barriers decorated to look like candy canes.Nearby, two women labored to clear drains in front of a candy store as the waters kept rising, sending trash and barrels along the murky current.
Christie Brinson stood in the doorway of a coffee shop trying to figure out how she could get to her vehicle in an area parking lot so she could make the trip home to Statesboro, Ga.She had come to Charleston for a shopping weekend, but now found herself unable to leave.“This is a hot mess,” she said.“We just want to get out of here before the next bad (storm) comes and does it all over again.” Around the corner, an employee at Kaminsky’s Cafe hunched on a stoop and watched brown water flow through open doors leading into her neighboring sister business, TBonz Gill and Grill.A half-foot of water had made its way inside the restaurant, causing the outlets to smoke and ending all hope of opening for business Sunday, she said.“We tried to sandbag,” said the worker, who declined to give her name.“But this is beyond sandbagging.” ‘This is our future’ The deluge came, to some extent, as a surprise.
But city leaders have for years been warning more flooding-event days, like today, will begin to overtake the coast.The National Weather Service predicted tides to be two feet lower than they reached.But even if the prediction was more accurate, there’s not much more the city could have done to prepare in the short-term, according to Dale Morris, Charleston’s chief resilience officer.The city’s emergency management division coordinated with local police and fire departments to prepare for flooding, and it deployed a handful of pumps in strategic locations on the peninsula.
But once the tide eclipses 8 feet, “the Atlantic Ocean is pouring into the city,” Morris said.And there’s not much anyone can do until the tide goes down and water can drain out of the city.Charleston has already seen 13 inches of sea level rise throughout the past century.The rate is increasing – half of those inches rose in the past 30 years.
By 2050, there is expected to be at least 14 additional inches of sea level rise, Morris said.This could bring 70 to 90 flooding-event days each year.Meanwhile, warming oceans will fuel stronger hurricanes that will batter South Carolina’s coast.Due to climate change, global ocean temperatures are hitting record-high levels, a trend that’s likely to continue.Charleston leaders are weighing a proposal to wrap a sea wall around roughly eight miles of the peninsula.
The roughly $1.3 billion project aims to protect the city from rising seas and strengthening storms.The proposed wall, which would be built in collaboration with the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers, would protect the city from a Category 4 storm surge plus an additional 2.5 feet.
Morris is hopeful the proposal could protect the city from its sinister forecast.
But if no long-term infrastructure planning crosses the finish line, the city will be doomed, he said.“This storm snuck up on us, and this is just a little, simple, Nor-easter,” Morris said.“This is our future.These are the things that are going to continue to happen, so we need to address them with infrastructure.” Across the rest of the Palmetto State, heavy rainfall was expected in Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester and Jasper counties.The Grand Strand also saw coastal flooding, as officials closed numerous roads in Horry and Georgetown counties.
A flash flood warning is in effect there until 5:15 p.m.Although the Grand Strand’s storm surge was lower than anticipated, the rainfall was heavier, causing widespread flooding, Georgetown County Emergency Management Director Brandon Ellis said.
Many streets in downtown Georgetown flooded as did the causeways on Pawleys Island and roads in Garden City and Murrells Inlet.Georgetown saw 7 inches of rain in a brief period.The forecast had called for between 4 and 6 inches.The water was so high that U.S.
17 was closed between Highmarket Street and the Maryville bridge.Ellis said area fire departments rescued multiple drivers who were trapped by floodwaters.Along with the flooding, authorities were investigating reports of a tornado in the Forestbrook area of Horry County.
This is a developing story.
Check back for updates..
