Walked along the seawall in Charleston last weekend and watched a tide so high it flooded the main road

I'm talking knee deep saltwater covering the street at high tide during a clear sunny day. Has anyone else seen this kind of thing getting way more common in coastal towns near you?

2 comments

2 Comments

marymorgan1mo ago

Actually, Charleston had a 6.3 foot tide that day (I checked the NOAA gauge data later), so it wasn't really a "king tide" or anything extreme. Sunny day flooding like that happens because the sea level has risen about 7 inches there since the 1950s from land sinking and warmer water expanding. The city even has pumps and drainage projects now for these "nuisance floods" that happen like 40+ times a year, which is wild. I live in Savannah myself and we get this on River Street all the time now during full moons. It's not really a surprise anymore, it's just the new normal for coastal towns.

sagea881mo ago

new normal" is right @marymorgan, I swear half my friends in Charleston just factor flood days into their weekly routine now.