Sheets & Buckets
So a little backstory: I was on a drive back from WordCampRDU this weekend, about to hit my last leg into Charleston. I was getting some e-mails from Weather Underground saying that some strong storms had fired over West Ashley and that given my timing I was probably going to hit them.
Storm totals as of 5:30 -- the red is right around my complex, indicating 3-4+ inches of rain.
And hit them I did! As I crossed the Westmoreland Bridge (the bridge over the Ashley that separates North Charleston from Charleston on 526) I lost all visibility thanks to driving rain and very gusty winds. I slowed to a crawl, pulled my phone out, and saw the tornado warning waiting for me. Many cars were stopped on 526; however, I was able to inch along and finally get off the freeway. Upon turning onto Magwood Road, I saw the wind increase and start throwing quite a bit of branches and leaves across the road. I saw a tattered American flag being battered by the wind and knew that this was definitely not your ordinary severe thunderstorm.
Upon arriving home the rain continued to beat down, and I noticed that the water had completely escaped the banks of the ditches and, in some cases, was flowing into streets and flooding the parking lots. The complex is close to marsh, and thus a bit more susceptible to flooding than you might think outside of downtown. It takes a pretty decent rainfall for this to happen, and that was definitely in place, as the RADAR-estimated storm rainfall total map illustrates. Here’s a slideshow of the aftermath:
Also check out a shot from Sullivan’s Island by WCBD’s Brendan Clark.