Hurricane Idalia, which is headed for the gulf coast of Florida, will likely downgrade to a tropical storm before reaching Charleston Wednesday night, latest projections show.
In Charleston, its landfall, around 8 P.M. will coincide with a king tide just after 8 P.M. As a result, flooding will be widespread, city leaders said Aug. 29. Charleston Police will begin closing tidal flood prone streets at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 30.
Charleston City Council held an emergency meeting Tuesday afternoon to issue emergency orders that are consistent with the state’s order. Doing so will also make the city eligible for federal disaster aid if necessary.
Because the storm will likely downgrade from hurricane status by the time it arrives in South Carolina, local and state leaders painted a cautiously optimistic picture.
“We hope to not have a big impact from this storm but (Wednesday) night hunker down, be safe and let’s not put our first responders at risk, “Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said.
Gov. Henry McMaster said he issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency “out of an abundance of caution.”
“That state of emergency declaration allows all of our agencies to move people and equipment and remove restrictions if necessary that slow things down,” he said, adding that it also enacts the state’s anti-price-gouging law.
While he expects the state to see high winds and high water, he said, “I do not anticipate issuing any evacuation order. I do not anticipate closing any state agencies or facilities. We don’t think it will be necessary to do that.”
Two sources for up-to-date official information he recommended going to are hurricane.sc and scemd.org.
Tecklenburg recommended Charleston residents download to Tide Eye mobile phone app which monitors tidal flooding.
As a reminder, McMaster said, “please get your prescriptions, papers, pets ready to move. Expect to be out of power because these winds knock down limbs. … And please do not drive into any water. We’ve had tragedies over the years of people going into water deeper than it looked.”
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