Hurricane Threats/ Damage Goose Creek area (Columbia, Charleston: relocate, tornado, rental)

[aurelius]

Hello SC!

I have relocated to the Goose Creek area and I'm curious about damage that can be done in this area. I have no idea how long Hurricane force winds last- days/hours ecc.
Also, if any of you live in this area- do you board up windows or is that just for the immediate coastline?

Thanks!

[scjj]

I wouldn't be too overly concerned. Of course you can still get hurricane force winds in this area, anything is possible, but it is far enough inland that I wouldn't consider it something to board up your windows over. Boarding up windows is something that is done mostly along the coastline where the hurricane makes landfall. I lived about 5 miles inland from the ocean in my last house and being newbies to a coastal area and our first hurricane (a weak Cat 3) we boarded up all our windows. We were the only ones in our neighborhood to do so and our neighbors had a good laugh at us. We awoke the next morning to find "Condemned" written across our plywood covering our front door. It was good for a laugh. I guess my point is that Goose Creek is probably a good 20 miles inland, once hurricanes make landfall they tend to weaken. Boarding up would be a little extreme that far in, that is unless a Cat 5 is coming and then you won't stick around anyway.

A hurricane is unpredictable on how long they can last. I've been through ones that lasted 12 hours and I've been through ones that stalled out and hung around for 2 days. One never knows.

[aurelius]

scjj,
Thank you very much for answering my post! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't see a Cat 5 as the afternoon t'storms are more than enough weather for me!

[wesacat]

Hi Aurelius,
I've lived in GC for over 15 years now and I've only boarded up once and that was only because the "newbees" in the rental house next door wouldn't pick up their loose debris in the yard and I didn't want it to end up in my bedroom. lol
GC is fairly safe from most hurricanes, just watch out for those trees, especially the pines! That's what gets the inland houses.
Hurricanes can last for hours or days depending on the size but hurricane force winds are usually located right around the eye and tend to last only a few hours...but...as scjj said, they are unpredictable. Hugo was the worst one I've been through and I thought it was NEVER gonna end!

[rizeninme]

I agree with the other posters- in Goose Creek you do not really need to worry about hurricanes. If ever there was a cat 5 headed your way, just leave and do not worry about your windows! There are a lot of pesky tornado's which seem to hit that area often, but they are usually very small and do minimal damage. The biggest threat, unfortunately, are the big, beautiful pine trees which do go over in big storms. If you do not have any big pines in your yard, I'm sure you will be just fine for many years. We had big pines in our yard, and whenever a big storm came through I would go visit my friend who didn't have any trees in Ladson, but we never had any problems except for Hugo which brought a big pine right through the middle of the house!

[aurelius]

rizeninme,
Thanks for the reply! I'm living in the Hamlets and those 'big beautiful pines' are the entire back property lines! hahah so I'm just gonna keep my fingers crossed they fall away from the house!!

[klipsie]

We're thinking of moving to the Summerville area in several years when we retire. What kind of hurricane risk is in that area?

[DJShymansky]

Roughly the same as the Goose Creek area in comparison to the coast, but still higher than areas farther inland like Columbia. Your trying to judge the effects of a hurricane based on 20 mile differences in location, granted there's a lot more wind on the coast because there's no trees to block it at all, but if the storm's powerful enough, trees and branches just turn into missiles as it is.

Summerville and Goose Creek are much less prone to the high winds and flooding that accompany hurricanes, tropical storms, etc., than the areas closer to the coast and downtown Charleston, but they're certainly not hurricane-proof.

[Sheckie]

I have lived in what I would call Summer-Creek area --the in between of Summerville and Goose Creek since 1976. I have a Summerville address but I live off 176 just north of Crowfield plantation in a brick home on high ground. I have seen 2 Hurricanes and been scared by several since Huggo. When Hurricane David came through it was no big deal but when Huggo came through it devastated Goose Creek and Summerville. I had 11 trees on my house. I saw cars smashed flat and houses cut in half from Pine and Oak trees. I saw flooding in Goose Creek and we had no power for 2 weeks.

When visiting Goose Creek you will notice that the Pine trees are mostly young--since Huggo. If you are buying a house in Crowfield make sure it has 16" centers and not 24" and not vinyl sided since those houses had a bad habit of twisting during Huggo. Also beware of foundation issues. There are several areas in Crowfield where they have real problems with that.

About boarding -- I boarded my windows and had pine branches and other items imbedded in the wood. It also kept the glass from being itched by sand blasting. I had to have my car widows replaced from that.

Goose Creek is a nice area. The statistics are off on the demographics shown on this site since the large influx of Hispanics into this area in the last 3 years. Redbank road around the Twin Lakes area has become vary Hispanic. Aslo you need to be Bilingual in Wallmart since if you are non-Hispanic you will be the miniorty on Saturdays and Sundays.

What I like about Goose Creek is the low crime rate. This is largely due to the efficiency of the Goose Creek police force. Just a couple of weeks ago about 175 yards from my house they stopped to 2 suspected terrorist. The down side the road to Goose Creek was shut down for 10 hours. A couple of years ago the did an early morning drug raid on Stradford High School which I thought sent a good message. It is also a town were they believe in enforcing moving violations—don’t speed! Of course if you are going to work down 176, 52, College Park or I26 you won’t have to worry about that since the roads have not kept of with the growth north of Goose Creek.

One last thing –It is a very clean and friendly town.
Hope this helps.

[meks]

Originally Posted by klipsie

We're thinking of moving to the Summerville area in several years when we retire. What kind of hurricane risk is in that area?

none... Hugo was the worst hurricane this area ever saw and other than a ton of yard work and some shingles most houses weathered the storm without incident

you have to worry about looters more than the storm, because nearly everyone leaves... except people like me, I stay

I was here for Hugo but lived west ashley near the coast, had three big pines come through the roof and a lot more damage but all was fixed rapidly...

here in S'Ville I'd never contemplate leaving for a hurricane, good brick home...

if you buy one of those cracker jack cookie cutter houses that are really just a tall trailer without wheels then you might want to find a better structure to stay in

now in Awendaw where the brunt of the storm hit it was really bad, bigger than hurricane Andrew only less poulated than the florida homestead area so people have forgotten it... but that's on the coast and a only once in a century storm, ,S'Villes safe as long as your home is well built