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Putting the catastrophic South Carolina flooding into perspective

By CharlotteFive Staff

South Carolina hasn’t been dealing with just any bad storm the past few days. Meteorologists are calling it the worst weather disaster to hit the state since Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

The flooding was a 1,000-year rainfall event, according to local meteorologist Brad Panovich, which means that this level of rain has a 1 in 1,000 chance of happening in any given year.

Some other numbers:

– 550 bridges and roads remained closed Monday.

– 70 miles of I-95 were closed.

– 9 deaths have been linked to the storm.

– 20 inches of rain fell in parts of metro Columbia, and the airport recorded its highest ever one-day total of precipitation.

– 11.5 inches of rain fell in Charleston on Saturday alone.

– The Congaree River in Columbia crested past 30 feet for the first time in 79 years.

– 40,000 South Carolinians were dealing with contaminated drinking water or no water at all as of noon Monday.

How did it happen? According to this article in the Washington Post, Hurricane Joaquin played an indirect role, even as it tracked well offshore.

From the WaPo story: As Hurricane Joaquin tracked north, well east of the coast, a separate, non-tropical low pressure system was setting up shop over the Southeast late last week. This system drew in a deep, tropical plume of water vapor off the tropical Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, this upper-level low pressure system tapped into the moist outflow of Hurricane Joaquin.

The moisture pipeline fed directly into a pocket of intense uplift on the northern side of the non-tropical vortex. Within this dynamic “sweet spot,” thunderstorms established a training pattern, passing repeatedly over the same location and creating a narrow corridor of torrential rain stretching from Charleston to the southern Appalachians.

THADDEUS LINCOLN TATE: The newest monument erected along Charlotte’s Trail of History in front of the Metropolitan Monday is of Thaddeus Lincoln Tate, a business entrepreneur who helped local African-Americans gain access to a free library, job training, insurance coverage and prominent office space, all before the civil rights era. He is the first black Charlottean to be honored with a monument for contributing to the city’s history.

YET ANOTHER CHARLOTTE SPORTS INJURY: Charlotte Hornets small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder that could require surgery. If he elects to have that surgery, it would end his season. If he chooses just to rehab the joint, he’d be out six to eight weeks, but would be prone to another tear in the future.

In happier news, Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly could be back on the field for the team’s next game against the Seattle Seahawks on Oct. 18.

GO VOTE!: The Democratic mayoral primary runoff is today. Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m., and don’t expect any lines. Democrats and unaffiliated voters that didn’t vote in the Republican primary are eligible to vote. Only 4,114 people voted early.

Photos:Chuck Burton/AP; Davie Hinshaw/Charlotte Observer 

This story was originally published October 5, 2015 at 9:06 PM with the headline "Putting the catastrophic South Carolina flooding into perspective."

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