‘A hot mess’: Charleston impacted by severe flooding after Nor’easter hits area

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Heavy rains from a Nor’easter and high tides caused severe flooding in historic Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday.

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Tides in Charleston Harbor peaked at 9.86 feet on Sunday afternoon as a low-pressure system from the Gulf of Mexico crossed through Florida and Georgia and battered the Lowcountry of South Carolina, The Post and Courier reported.

It was Charleston’s highest non-tropical tide on record and the fourth-highest in the city’s history, according to the newspaper. The levels were topped only by 12.52 feet in 1989, caused by Hurricane Hugo; an unnamed storm in 1940 that brought tides of 10.23 feet; and 9.92 feet recorded when Hurricane Irma battered the area in 2017, according to Courtney Maskell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The weather service also recorded a record 3.15 inches of rain Sunday at Charleston International Airport, WCIV-TV reported.

The heavy rains caused knee-deep floodwaters in the city’s medical district, causing road closures and stranding vehicles in the standing waters, according to The Post and Courier.

“If you don’t have to be out, please stay home. We want people to stay safe,” Ben Alquist, emergency management director for the City of Charleston, told WCBD-TV. “We know that there’s going to be high water and very windy conditions throughout the day. It’s going to make driving hazardous. Please, if you don’t have to be out, stay home.”

Christie Brinson was stranded in the doorway of a coffee shop in Charleston and said she was trying to figure out a way to reach her vehicle in a nearby parking lot. Her shopping trip from Statesboro, Georgia, turned into a harrowing experience.

“This is a hot mess,” Brison told The Post and Courier. “We just want to get out of here before the next bad (storm) comes and does it all over again.”