Kailey Cota is a breaking news and public safety reporter for the Post & Courier's Charleston location. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina. She previously wrote for The State, The Current and The Daily Gamecock, and was named South Carolina's collegiate journalist of the year.
Charleston has been placed under a tropical storm warning as a weather system that's been developing offshore could turn into a tropical cyclone overnight.
The warning was issued during the evening of Sept. 15 out of an abundance of caution as a system could bring tropical storm force winds to the region overnight, converging with the highest astronomical tides of the year, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Ron Morales.
"The idea is that we're not caught off guard overnight," Morales told The Post and Courier.
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Tropical storm force winds have already been recorded off the coast of Charleston and are likely to develop over the next several days from Edisto Island to McClellanville.
The National Weather Service for days has been predicting flooding as it has monitored the low-pressure system sitting off the coast and the King Tides that will build this week. The tropical storm warning does not mark a change in what's expected -- its impacts were already "baked into the system" of what the National Weather Service was announcing, Morales said.
Moderate coastal flooding of about 7.7 feet is expected overnight, and tide levels are expected to remain elevated throughout the week, Morales said.
Minor flooding occurs when tides reach a height of 7 feet, as measured at the Cooper River tidal gauge in the Charleston Harbor. Major flooding happens when the tide reaches 8 feet.
Nearly 50 intersections were under a flood warning at 6 p.m. Sept. 15. A new law makes it illegal to drive a car faster than 5 mph, or in a manner that sends wakes into adjacent properties, in any streets that are inundated with 6 or more inches of water.
News 'No-wake zone' law on flooded Charleston streets takes effect. Do similar laws work elsewhere? By Ali Rockett [email protected]