By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | An annual federal flooding report found Charleston’s high tide flooding is increasing at an alarming rate.
“The report is very clear: Charleston is in trouble,” Coastal Conservation League’s Betsy La Force told Statehouse Report. “If we look at the data and continue to ignore it the issue will only get worse. It’s scientific. It’s not political. It proves to the public and political leaders that climate change impacts are happening now … We have to be realistic and plan accordingly.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report included data from Charleston and Myrtle Beach. Charleston was mentioned in graphs and highlighted 21 times in the report.
Charleston saw 13 high-tide flooding events in 2019 but is projected to see only four to seven flooding events this year. Myrtle Beach’s Springmaid Pier had 11 flooding events in 2019 but is projected to see only two to six this year. Charleston could experience up to 90 high-tide flooding events by 2050, the report said. Myrtle Beach could see up to 75.
The increase in high-tide flooding along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts since 2000 has been “extraordinary,” according to the report, which found that the frequency of flooding in some cities growing five-fold during that time.
- Read the report here; See page 15 for Charleston’s and Myrtle Beach’s data.
In other news:
Lawsuit challenges Heritage Act. A new lawsuit that includes Jennifer Pinckney, the widow of the late Rev. and S.C. Sen.p. Clementa Pinckney, alleges South Carolina’s Heritage Act is unconstitutional. The act protects war memorials, including those to the Confederacy, viewed by many as racist. Pinckney voted against the bill in 2000. He was slain with eight other worshippers in a 2015 racist attack on Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. The lawsuit claims the act violates the constitution by placing limits on the ability to amend or repeal the law and by disregarding home rule for local government control over local matters. Read here.
McMaster sets up fight with push for in-person school. Gov. Henry McMaster announced Wednesday he is pushing for schools to reopen after Labor Day, fully in-person, while Education Superintendent Molly Spearman pushed back, not attending the announcement and saying that safety should be first. Districts across the state are scrambling to adjust reopening plans in light of the mixed guidance. Read more. Also: See Andy Brack’s new commentary.
Charleston bus project holds promise of S.C. transportation changes. Lowcountry Rapid Transit is a bus system six years in the making between Summerville and downtown Charleston. It is projected to handle 6,784 passenger trips per day. Beyond altering the way traffic flows in the Lowcountry, others expect “the state’s first real mass transit project” to have far reaching impacts on the rest of the state. Read here.
South Carolina to share license data for citizenship efforts. At the direction of Gov. Henry McMaster, South Carolina, together with Iowa and South Dakota, have joined Nebraska in agreeing to share state driver’s license information with the Census Bureau. Read more.
Unemployment numbers show S.C. hasn’t recovered yet. Tens of thousands of new applicants continue to sign up for unemployment benefits in South Carolina, suggesting the economy won’t be rebounding any time soon. Read more.
S.C. Supreme Court temporarily bans no-knock warrants. S.C. Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty said last week that circuit and summary judges cannot sign off on “no-knock” search warrants until they receive further instruction from the state’s highest court on how to issue the warrants. Read more.
Civil forfeiture reform draws national attention. The Institute for Justice, a national nonprofit law firm, has stepped into a state Supreme Court case that could change civil forfeiture in the state. Read more.
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!