Incredible New Video Shows Irma Flooding Downtown Charleston

Wow.

Charleston’s historic downtown area flooded Monday, as now-Tropical Storm Irma continued churning northward from Florida. The Post and Courier said the storm had generated a 9.9-foot tide, the third highest on record for the city, prompting authorities to issue a flash flood emergency. Video posted to Twitter shows pounding rain and wind, and the ocean overcrashing a promenade that separates the city from the sea:

https://twitter.com/Aaron_Maybin/status/907306771538214912

According to the Post and Courier:

The surge put White Point Garden under water and sent water coursing through downtown Charleston’s historic neighborhoods. Residents could be seen wading through hip-deep water; a john boat with four people aboard cruised down South Battery. Flooding was so severe that police in Charleston told people to avoid downtown until floodwaters recede.

At least four deaths were reported in Florida after the storm landed on Sunday, according to the New York Times; 27 have been killed across the Caribbean. Even as Charleston was lashed by outer bands of rain, Irma’s center was moving north-northwest toward southern parts of Georgia on its way to Alabama.

OUR DEADLINE MATH PROBLEM

It’s risky, but also unavoidable: A full one-third of the dollars that we need to pay for the journalism you rely on has to get raised in December. A good December means our newsroom is fully staffed, well-resourced, and on the beat. A bad one portends budget trouble and hard choices.

The December 31 deadline is drawing nearer, and if we’re going to have any chance of making our goal, we need those of you who’ve never pitched in before to join the ranks of MoJo donors.

We simply can’t afford to come up short. There is no cushion in our razor-thin budget—no backup, no alternative sources of revenue to balance our books. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the fierce journalism we do. That’s why we need you to show up for us right now.

payment methods

OUR DEADLINE MATH PROBLEM

It’s risky, but also unavoidable: A full one-third of the dollars that we need to pay for the journalism you rely on has to get raised in December. A good December means our newsroom is fully staffed, well-resourced, and on the beat. A bad one portends budget trouble and hard choices.

The December 31 deadline is drawing nearer, and if we’re going to have any chance of making our goal, we need those of you who’ve never pitched in before to join the ranks of MoJo donors.

We simply can’t afford to come up short. There is no cushion in our razor-thin budget—no backup, no alternative sources of revenue to balance our books. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the fierce journalism we do. That’s why we need you to show up for us right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate