A map shows coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia that could be inundated by storm surges from Hurricane Ian. Areas in orange could see more than 6 feet of water above the ground; those in yellow could see more than 3 feet; blue indicates 1 foot or more.
Earthstar Geographics/Esri, HERE, Garmin
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Earthstar Geographics/Esri, HERE, Garmin
A map shows coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia that could be inundated by storm surges from Hurricane Ian. Areas in orange could see more than 6 feet of water above the ground; those in yellow could see more than 3 feet; blue indicates 1 foot or more.
Earthstar Geographics/Esri, HERE, Garmin
Hurricane Ian is creating chaos along the South Carolina coast, where it made landfall south of Georgetown as a Category 1 storm on Friday afternoon. The city is about 60 miles northeast of Charleston.
When he arrived, Ian was flooding beaches and residential areas with storm surge and massive rain, causing seawater to spill onto the roads.
“The flooding was catastrophic,” the Pawleys Island Police Department said. said via Twitter, as he posted several videos showing shocking amounts of flooding. In one sequence, the driver of a rescue vehicle is heard asking where to turn – trying to follow roads hidden by rough, deep water.
Video of Myrtle Ave nr N Causeway after rescue. pic.twitter.com/0XyBOVpXYh
— Pawleys Island PD (@PawleysIslandPD) September 30, 2022
As of 2 p.m. ET, Ian was carrying maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. In a sign of the many threats posed by Ian, the state of South Carolina was under more than 85 weather warnings, watches and alerts as of 2 p.m.
Horry County Police, which includes Myrtle Beach, published video of the ocean rushing to the streets from Garden City access roads, as well as torrential rains and flooded roads. The agency urges anyone in the area to stay off the roads.
Road conditions are deteriorating ⚠️⚠️⚠️
If you don’t have to travel, avoid the roads.#ian will pass and any trip can take place AFTER the storm.
Please, for your safety and the safety of others, move indoors and stay indoors. pic.twitter.com/F90ifKKy5C
— Horry County PD (@horrycountypd) September 30, 2022
A local television news crew captured the high water scene rippling along a nearby roadway.
The water is rising FAST on Pawleys Island!
>> https://t.co/91rMIwdQ0O pic.twitter.com/cLXEPdQPeb
— WMBF News (@wmbfnews) September 30, 2022
Ian has already forced road closures in historic downtown Charleston, and winds near the city are blowing at hurricane speeds.
It’s the final impact of the storm that has inundated large sections of the Florida peninsula – and Ian is expected to bring power outages and flooding to South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina.
Prior to Ian’s arrival, a hurricane warning covered the entire South Carolina coast and part of the North Carolina coast up to Cape Fear.
Late Friday morning, an ocean weather buoy 41 nautical miles southeast of Charleston recorded waves as high as 21 feet, the The National Weather Service said. Earlier this week, no wave at the buoy was over 4 feet.
Coastal communities brace again for storm surge Ian
Forecasters had warned that a wide swath of the coast in South Carolina and North Carolina could see storm surge waters reach 6 feet above the ground, with over 9 feet possible in some places.
Charleston County, which includes about 100 miles of coastline, declared an emergency Thursday and opened shelters for people who want to sit out of the storm in safe spaces and on higher ground. But the county had to bus service stop at the shelters on Thursday, when high winds made such trips risky.
Just north along the coast, Georgetown County has urged residents of flood-prone areas to watch for weather warnings – but unlike Charleston, the county said Thursday that he had no plans to open shelters. He also avoided other steps such as offering sandbags, saying people can buy them in stores.
There is no evacuation order in effect, but residents of low-lying, flood-prone areas should monitor conditions closely. #HurricaneIan pic.twitter.com/1ENpmTBqpA
— Georgetown County, SC (@GtCounty) September 29, 2022
“Wide areas will suffer power and communications outages,” the NWS office in Wilmington, North Carolina said. He expects other impacts to go from broken or uprooted trees, debris blocking roads and bridges and high roads becoming dangerous.
The flood started in the pre-dawn darkness
Much of the Charleston metro area began Friday under a flash flood warning that was issued around 6 a.m. ET — hours before the hurricane set in its storm surge.
Cars drive through a near-deserted historic district of Charleston, South Carolina, as the city braces for Hurricane Ian’s landfall on Friday.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
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Cars drive through a near-deserted historic district of Charleston, South Carolina, as the city braces for Hurricane Ian’s landfall on Friday.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Flooding from heavy rains caused road closures around the city, from the central intersection of Huger and King streets to roads along the waterfront.
“We are only requesting essential travel,” the police department said.
In downtown Charleston, some roads began flooding before dawn as heavy rains from Ian dropped 1 to 2 inches of water on the city, according to the National Weather Service office in Charleston. . Another 2 to 6 inches of rain could fall, he warned.
Flash flooding was expected to hit a number of popular tourist areas, such as Folly Beach at Sullivans Island and Isle of Palms. Further inland, flooding is likely to hit North Charleston, the office said.
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