Well, yes and no. As is their wont, the national news coverage tends to
exaggerate. This *will* likely be the worst area flooding since Hurricane
Hugo, but Hugo got nowhere near the roofs in Charleston (McLellanville is
another story; they were just north of the eye and the little coastal
village suffered an 18' storm surge that went to the roofs and beyond). The
worst flooding in downtown Charleston was about 5'. The peninsula downtown
area of Charleston has been notorious for flooding for decades. When I
turned on the news this morning CBS was broadcasting from a low spot on
Ashley Avenue where I used to play when I was 10 years old. If you overlay
a modern map of Charleston on a map from 150 years ago you can immediately
see the problem: the areas that routinely flood were formerly tidal creeks
and ponds that over time were filled with garbage and building debris from
the 1886 earthquake. These were covered over and built upon. They were
always lower than the surrounding dry land and underwent settling. The
downtown has another problem: much of the storm drainage system was laid
about 100-125 years ago. What was once a 24" drain pipe is now half filled
with leaves, horse manure, sticks and trash. Someone else can do the math,
but I believe a pipe that is half filled with material only carries about
one quarter of its original capacity. Lastly, the whole area is sinking.
Since 1920 sea levels have risen about 6" but in the same time period the
sea level in Charleston harbor has risen about 18". The discrepancy is
likely due to the North American plate sinking at this end since the
retreat of glaciers 30,000 years ago from the northern side of the plate.
As I write this we have just had high tide. The water is creeping up
into my backyard a bit but should come no further. By my count we have had
19" of rain here on Daniel Island since Thursday, but it has been evenly
falling for the last 50 hours giving it time to drain away (I live in
newly developed area on original land with nice clean drain pipes).
Charlie signing off from soggy SC
On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 10:18 AM, Tina Manley <tmanley@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
My son says they have closed the peninsula in Charleston - no traffic in or
out. High tide will be at 1 and they are expecting the worst flooding
since Hugo. It got to the roofs in the market area then.
My daughter in Columbia says they are still predicting 15" of rain there
today. Our drought is over for the year!
Tina
On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 7:33 AM, Chuck Norcutt <
chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
wrote:
I just measured another 8.1" to go along with the 6+" I measured 24 hours
ago. The rain is supposed to subside for most of today and then start up
again Sunday through Monday. The pond out back has risen about 3 feet or
more and is not far below it banks.
Despite how much rain I've gotten Charlie in Charleston has probably
gotten a lot more. The main flow of moisture has entered the state at
Charleston heading north and inland. Where I am has been mostly on the
eastern edge of that flow and was a bit spotty at times. We have some
flooded streets locally but the news says Charleston has a lot.
ps: This is a separate weather system and has nothing to do with the
hurricane which is still a long way away.
Chuck Norcutt
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Tina Manley
www.tinamanley.com
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http://www.alamy.com/stock-photography/3B49552F-90A0-4D0A-A11D-2175C937AA91/Tina+Manley.html
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