Here’s how Hurricane Dorian is impacting Dorchester, Berkeley and Charleston counties

Sustained tropical storm force winds from Hurricane Dorian have sidelined public safety vehicles in Dorchester and Charleston Counties, officials said Thursday.

“If residents choose to travel during this time, it will be at their own risk,” Dorchester County spokeswoman Tiffany Norton said in a press release.

However, Dorchester County tweeted that “public safety crews will respond to true emergency calls only.”

Public works and Dorchester S.C. Department of Transportation vehicles have also been removed from the roads because of the high winds, the release said.

Counties near the coast have been borne the brunt of Dorian’s impact on the Carolinas. As of late Thursday morning, the eye of Dorian is sitting 50-60 miles off the coast of Charleston, according to Brittany MacNamara, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston.

Tropical storm force winds in Dorchester County have already caused road issues, including downed trees on I-26 West just before the Volvo interchange, according to a video Dorchester County posted to Twitter.

Dorchester County is under a flash flood watch through Thursday evening and a tropical storm warning, according to a bulletin from the National Weather Service.

“Crews will remain off the roads as long as we continue to experience sustained tropical-storm-force winds,” Norton said in an email.

Tropical storm force winds will likely continue in Dorchester County until 6 or 7 p.m. tonight, while in Charleston those winds will continue until roughly 8 or 9 p.m., MacNamara said.

There have been no serious track changes to the hurricane. “It’s pretty much paralleling the coast,” MacNamara said.

In neighboring Berkeley County, emergency crews are still on the road and are clearing debris, the county tweeted Thursday morning.

The effects of the hurricane are even more pronounced closer to the coast, where Charleston County is under a hurricane warning, a storm surge warning and a flash flood watch, according to the National Weather Service.

As of noon Thursday, 148 trees and 36 power lines were down, according to a release from the City of Charleston. A total of 108 roads were closed, 26 of them because of flooding, the release said.

“We’re in the part of the storm that we think will be the worst of the day,” said Shawn Smetana, a spokesman for Charleston County.

The winds began to die down during the afternoon, allowing Charleston County EMS to return to the roads at around 2:30 p.m., the county said on Twitter.

It’s unclear when exactly emergency crews will return to the streets to assess damage and begin repairs, but it will do so “as soon as it is safe for our cars to get out there and do a damage assesment,”said Shannon Scaff, the director of emergency management for the city of Charleston.

That could be as soon as tonight or first thing tomorrow morning, Scaff said.

Charleston, North Charleston and Mount Pleasant were all under a flash flood warning until 1:15 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

However, flooding in Charleston has been less than was projected, Scaff said.

“I feel like the City of Charleston has done pretty well when it comes to flooding,” Scaff said.

Rainfall has been highest so far at Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park, where the National Weather Service has already recorded seven inches of rain as of Thursday morning.

The threats from the hurricane aren’t limited to wind, rain or flooding. Sometimes, the danger of a hurricane is how those affected adapt to a loss of power or flooding. For example, Charleston Fire Department responded to a structure fire in West Ashley and found a resident grilling inside the house when they responded.

“Don’t take shortcuts during a power loss. It could cost you your life,” Charleston Fire Department tweeted.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

This story was originally published September 5, 2019 at 9:44 AM.