Weather Questions:Hurricanes and Charleston (Summerville: insurance, home, live in)

[debmik]

Hello everyone in this wonderfull fact filled forum!

Can you please let me know if I should look for a home with basement? Do you get a lot of Tornedo or Hurricane warnings? Does the weather get pretty intense? How oftem?

We live in Las Vegas where it's pretty uneventful weather wise, and my son is scared to move to SC.

Thank you for your observations and suggestions!

[Rggr]

You will not find a home with a basement. We are at sea level so basements are generally not an option. With hurricanes being the biggest threat, a basement would not be a good option anyway because of flooding.


As far as the weather goes, the summer brings frequent afternoon thunderstorms that can be pretty severe, but are generally fairly harmless. This is true unless you happen to be on the water or around trees or anything else that attracts lightening. They tend to pass pretty quickly and can actually be relaxing and beautiful to watch sometimes.

Hurricanes are a threat every year, however Charleston has not had a direct hit in years. They may start in our direction, but usually hit north of us when that's the case. If you look at a map of the east coast, you can see that if one were heading north off the coast of Florida and turning to the northeast (which many do) they will miss Charleston because we are somewhat tucked away. This does not mean that we are not in the path and at risk and does not mean that we do not get weather from them. I'm saying we do not take that many direct hits. When one passes off the coast, we get a lot of rain and high winds that can be damaging, but is not catastrophic like a direct hit would be. The thing about hurricanes is that you know they exist long before they're a threat, and you have the ability to prepare your home and leave if necessary.

As for tornados, they can happen with some of the thunderstorms mentioned as well as with hurricanes. They probably occur a couple of times per year. These are not the large tornados you would see in Oklahoma, but small twisters that touch down briefly in a very localized area. These are not widespread problems, but can occur.

As a bottom line, I would say that there is the possiblity of destructive weather, but not as likely as the media would lead you to believe. The level of risk is not high enough where I would let it be a factor in my decision to move. Personally, I enjoy the storms. I hope this helps, let me know if you have further questions.

[baylovers]

If you find a true lowcountry home not only will it not have a basememt but it will be raised a good 8-12 feet off the ground!

MyrtleBeachOnline.com | 01/09/2008 | Pawleys works to cut flood insurance costs (broken link)

[SCDweller]

Everyone is correct. No basements to be found. The weather can be intense, but like Rggr mentioned, we haven't been hit by a major hurricane for some time now. The hurricane season (Late August-September...) usually has tropical storms and such and you definitely stock up on your essentials. (Bottled water, food, batteries etc.) But thankfully, you rarely get to use them. If you are planning to relocate further inland, (Summerville) you will have less severe storms. (Granted, if a Hurricane like Hugo hits, evacuation is the order of the hour, no matter if you are 40 miles inland.) I agree with Rggr, the thunderstorms can be really fun if you are prepared and like to watch a fantastic show in the sky.