City of Charleston receives $3 million for 3 year flood study on peninsula

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - City of Charleston officials say a $3 million federally funded study is going to give them long-term solutions to flooding in downtown Charleston.

The study will solely cover the peninsula area.

If you live in Charleston you know that flooding is no stranger to the city, even when there’s not a hurricane.

College of Charleston student Trinity Purvis-Wooden knows how bad things can get.

“I’ve seen homes around here, [water] goes all the way to the front porch and stuff,” said Purvis-Wooden who is from James Island.

On Wednesday Mayor of Charleston JohnTecklenburg signed an agreement with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Charleston District Commander Lt. Col. Jeffrey Palazzini to begin what they’re calling a peninsula flood protection study.

They say it will come up with cost-effective solutions to flooding.

“We really in Charleston have an existential threat from flooding and sea level rise. We’ve learned that over the last four years in a row,” Tecklenburg said.

Flood experts locally and from across the country will spend time finding ways to better tackle flooding during this three-year study.

The $3 million for the study comes from federal emergency supplemental funding from Hurricane Irma.

“We’ve got Micheal skirting by us tomorrow, I hate to admit it, it’s just the sign of our times and world climate that we continue to see repetitive extreme weather events. In addition to that, we have the almost certain prospect of a continuation of sea level rise,” Tecklenburg said.

It could be years before Charleston sees any changes resulting from the study because the focus is on long-term solutions.

After recommendations are made, the mayor says they will request funding from Congress to help implement them.

“I hear it gets horrid especially amongst tides and it comes extremely quickly,” said College of Charleston student Alex Sofia who lives in downtown Charleston.

Copyright 2018 WCSC. All rights reserved.


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content