Tales of the Flooded: Holly P., Charleston
A South Carolina resident shares her experience with flooding and what she thinks can be done.
Holly P. is a Charleston area homeowner who lives in a residential part of town, just east of Colonial Lake. Like many who live in the area, significant increases in flooding — and the challenges it brings — have become a regular part of her life.
As with other area residents, Holly did not know that her home was susceptible to flooding when she purchased it, and has had to adjust to dealing with rising waters. We asked her to tell us about her experience with flooding and how she thinks the city should deal with this problem.
Regardless of flooding, it’s still home
Holly has lived in her home since 2012. Even though there were no signs of flooding when she bought the house, her yard floods regularly now.
The property is often water-logged for 24 hour periods during and after rain events, and especially during high tides.
“In 2015 and 2016 we had more than 20 inches of standing water in our yard for 3 days and during Irma the water was 40 inches in the front yard,” said Holly. “It took days for the water to recede then, too. Most of our neighbors had water in their homes and had to redo their first floor at least 2 times. In fact, some of those properties are still not inhabited.”
Holly had to replace her first floor ductwork three years in a row. Last year, during Hurricane Irma, she and her family rolled up rugs on the first floor and put electronic devices on top of their dining room table, then stayed up most of the night until they knew that the worst was over. After that storm, Holly and her family elected to rip the ductwork out and install ductless HVAC units that mount near the ceiling. In addition, she has changed her landscaping strategy to use salt, flood, and drought tolerant plant materials.
Despite having to deal with these issues, a yard that becomes completely inundated, and hurricane scares, Holly said that she would still have purchased her home even if she had known about the flooding beforehand.
“I am fortunate in that we have not had water enter our house during the last three major storms,” Holly said.
Real estate values in danger
Holly suspects that flooding has impacted the property values of her home and others in her area, but that sellers and realtors may not recognize it yet. Several properties in the immediate vicinity of Holly’s home have been on the market for months, but are not selling.
“These properties have taken in water in the last few storms and the buyers are aware of water being an issue in the area,” said Holly. “My guess is that they would sell if prices were dropped, as much as $100K, as the market has definitely turned to be a buyer’s market from being a seller’s market, despite what one reads in the papers.”
Some homes in Holly’s neighborhood have been vacant for over 2 years and many properties have required first floor reconstructions every year. Several properties are still being worked on after the destruction that hurricane Irma brought and first-floor apartments aren’t seeing any tenants.
“I think a ‘bye year,’ storm wise, would help the market a lot,” said Holly.
Action needed by the local government
Parts of the Charleston area suffers from “sunny day” flooding (also known as nuisance flooding), rainy day flooding, and storm surge. Though city mitigation efforts focus on nuisance flooding, Holly says they’re not tackling the long-term flood issues that it represents and she feels that there’s disinterest and inaction by both the city and county.
Charleston has made progress with flood mitigation and lessened nuisance flooding by installing check valves, however flooding still exists. There are streets, such as the ones near the local hospital and the Ravenel Bridge, that become completely inundated, restricting travel. Though mitigation efforts have left most roads less flooded, properties like Holly’s are still experiencing the same amount of inundation.
“Rainy day flooding is harder to address as the tides fill up storm drains so the water has nowhere to go until the tide recedes,” said Holly. “Sometimes that can take multiple tide cycles, which is what we experience.”
Holly hopes that the city will address long term flooding and sea level rise as two separate issues. She feels the impact of flood water can be minimized by addressing building codes and restrictions, increasing storm drain capacity, and forbidding and restricting development in flood prone areas.
“I’m not sure there are solutions to completely prevent flooding,” said Holly. “However, I think there are actions to take that will lessen the impact of flooding. Charleston struggles with flooding now, before the sea level has risen. It’s disheartening to imagine what will happen when sea level rise starts in earnest.”
