Hurricane Dorian begins flooding coastal South Carolina, Gov. McMaster says
As Hurricane Dorian lumbers up the Florida and Georgia coasts, parts of South Carolina were pelted with rain and flooded by waves Wednesday morning and early afternoon.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster warned residents Wednesday afternoon that the flooding was only expected to get worse.
“It is the water that kills people,” McMaster said during a news conference. “It’s the water that’s the real danger. And it’s clear that we are going to have a lot of water.”
Wednesday morning, Charleston began experiencing a “king tide,” flooding parts of the city, McMaster said.
“Life threatening” storm surges ranging from four to eight feet in height are expected across the coast, National Weather Service meteorologist John Quagliariello said. The surges are expected to be the worst during high tide Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon in the southern and central coastal areas and on Thursday in the Grand Strand’s coastline.
Along with the storm surges, up to 12 inches of rain dumped across coastal South Carolina could cause flash flooding, Quagliariello added. Low lying areas east of Interstate 95 are most likely to see flash flooding.
All coastal counties in South Carolina were placed under hurricane, storm surge and flash flood warnings.
Hurricane conditions are expected to engulf the coast Thursday morning and to continue into the afternoon, with the greatest wind speed expected from Charleston to Myrtle Beach. Quagliariello predicted wind speeds peaking at 90 miles per hour in Charleston and Myrtle Beach.
Though the storm’s eye is not projected to make landfall on the Palmetto State’s coast, damaging winds will rack the coast, some reaching the state’s interior.
“The fact that the eye, the center of the hurricane is not inland does not mean much,” McMaster said.
Midland counties — including Bamberg, Orangeburg, Calhoun, Clarendon, Sumter and Lee counties — were placed under a tropical storm warning as of Wednesday morning. Tropical storm force winds are most likely to strike the area Wednesday night and Thursday.
Though predictions early Wednesday held the storm off of the South Carolina coast, a “little wobble” could shift the crawling Category 2 hurricane into the shore, National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham said Wednesday morning.
McMaster said South Carolina officials were on the look out for a shift in the storm, but urged residents living in evacuation areas to leave their homes regardless. Once wind speeds reach 40 miles per hour, emergency crews will be pulling out of areas and will not be able to respond to calls for help, he added.
As of Wednesday morning, about 360,000 people have evacuated from South Carolina’s coast. Of those, about 10 to 15% are believed to be tourists, transportation officials said.
“If you are still in the evacuation zone, you still have time to get out, but time to get out is running out,” McMaster said.
This story was originally published September 4, 2019 at 2:47 PM.
