stormwatch

Get help soon in Berkeley County

Berkeley County Emergency Preparedness Director Jason Patno said residents who need assistance should call 719-4800 as soon as possible.

"They need to seek shelter before we start to feel those effects, otherwise make preparations to shelter in place," Patno said.

As of 11: 30 a.m., no problems have been reported in Berkeley, Patno said.

There are no power outages, he said. "The weather right now is little a little overcast, but the winds are not
blowing and it's not raining," Patno said.

What's a "low-lying area?"

A commenter left us this question last night:

Which people should evacuate and what is considered low lying. I live in a third story apartment in summerville

We left an answer in comments (voluntary evacuations of low-lying areas are famously subjective and vague), but here's a more specific way of finding out whether your location is low-lying, at least from an insurance company perspective.

It's the Floodsmart.gov site's risk assessment page. Enter your address and you'll get a flood risk rating.

Turns out mine is "high."

Evacuating with Fido?

If you're planning on heading out of town tomorrow to avoid Ernesto, but you wouldn't dream of leaving Spot or Fifi behind, you might want to find a pet-friendly hotel in South Carolina. This Web site lists fur-hospitable hotels from Aiken to Yemassee. Don't forget to take food, water, a leash and any pet medications you might need.

AFB evacuating C-17s

Charleston Air Force Base is evacuating all operational C-17 Globemaster III aircraft at the station due to impending severe weather.

Aircraft will be moved today to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

The aircraft are being evacuated to ensure the airlift mission around the world will continue during the duration of storm here. All inbound military flights have been diverted from the air base.

Thursday base closings include, the base exchange, commissary and legal office. The medical group, including the base pharmacy, will close at noon.

Red Cross Assessing Needs

The American Red Cross, Carolina Lowcountry Chapter is currently preparing for the anticipated landfall of Tropical Storm Ernesto.

The Red Cross is assessing the needs of their local Chapter and will be continuing to mobilize the necessary resources that may be needed to assist those in need. In addition to the local staff and volunteers that are currently serving on the disaster relief operation, the Carolina Lowcountry Chapter has also requested additional volunteers and Emergency Response Vehicles to be deployed to Charleston from other Chapter’s across the country.

The Carolina Lowcountry Chapter is prepared to open 11 shelters as Voluntary evacuations are issued throughout the Lowcountry.

• The Red Cross will open shelters in Charleston County at Stall High School and North Charleston High School at 3 pm today.

• In Dorchester County, the Red Cross will be opening shelters at Woodland High School, Fort Dorchester High School and Summerville High School at 3 pm.

• In Berkeley County, the Red Cross will be opening shelters at Goose Creek High School and Berkeley High School at 5 pm.

• Public Health officials will also be opening Special Needs Shelters at Berkeley Intermediate School, Alice Birney Middle School and Dorchester Senior Center at 3 p.m. today.

If you have any questions about Red Cross Shelters or if you would like more information on how you can prepare for a disaster, you can call the local Red Cross Chapter at (843) 764-2323 or visit www.LowcountryRedCross.org.

The two local Red Cross volunteers that had deployed to Montgomery, Alabama on Sunday are currently stationed in Miami, Florida and they are prepared to provide hot meals to the individuals devastated by this storm once the affected areas become accessible.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like Tropical Depression Ernesto, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster.

The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

Charleston Shelter Info

From the Charleston Emergency Operations Center:

Shelter information regarding special needs/ disability/ special medical needs:

Not everyone with a disability or special need can take shelter at a Special Medical Needs Shelter. Only those who have a specific medical condition that requires electricity or special monitoring can go to a special medical needs shelter. Call 202-7100 to determine if your circumstances indicate a special medical needs shelter.

District 4 Closings

Schools reporter Mindy Hagen reports:

Interim Superintendent Jerry Montjoy announced that schools in Dorchester County District 4 will be closed on Thursday for students and staff. Woodland High School is being used as a shelter for the volunteer evacuation.

The shelter is scheduled to open at 3 p.m. today. Montjoy also advised parents, students and staff to monitor local news media for the status of school Friday 

Charleston School Announcement

Charleston County Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson will make an announcement at 2 p.m. about whether Charleston schools will be open Thursday.

Berkeley County Schools, Shelters

From the Berkeley County School District:

We will make a decision about school closings prior to 6:00 p.m. and will announce immediately.

The EOC has determined that three of our schools, Berkeley High, Goose Creek High, and Berkeley Intermediate will open today at 5:00p.m. as voluntary evacuation shelters. Berkeley Intermediate is the designated medical needs shelter.

In addition to these three sanctioned shelters, the Berkeley County School District will open Cainhoy Elementary/Middle School at 5:00 p.m. to support families in an area where no Red Cross shelter is provided. The Canhoy area, like other low lying areas, has no Red Cross sanctioned shelter due to the potential for flooding and isolation due to blocked access.

The Cainhoy school will operate under the same standards as other shelters; however, no medical services will be provided and district leadership will have decision-making authority.

This is a one-time decision based on the best information about this storm. We encourage anyone seeking shelter who can get to the Moncks Corner Red Cross shelters to do so, especially if they need medical attention.

Real-Time Traffic Info

The state Department of Transportation will have real-time traffic information during Ernesto on Thursday at www.sctraffic.org. 

Nursing Homes Not Evacuated

At the direction of the state, area nursing homes will not be evacuating unless Ernesto is upgraded.

Mount Pleasant Manor on Bowman Road will shelter its 120 residents in place unless a mandatory evacuation is issued, said Ryan Coker, marketing and admissions director.

The facility is built to withstand winds of up to 100 miles per hour, Coker said. It has taken precautionary measures, including stocking extra food. “"We'’re well prepared and if we need to evacuate, we will,"” Coker said.

Franke at Seaside on Rifle Range Road in Mount Pleasant is not planning to evacuate, said Sandy Stoll, administrator for licensed health care.
“"We have already gone through evacuation plan,"” she said. "“In the event things should change, we would be ready to enact the plan.”"

In the meantime, the facility will shelter its 160 residents. It has a three-day supply of food and water and back-up generators for power, Stoll said.

Stoll said communication from state emergency agencies has been excellent, including conference calls with the Emergency Preparedness Division and the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

“"I think they have worked hard over the last several months to get prepared for this year'’s hurricane season,” Stoll said. “They worked together as a team to get in front of any challenges we might have with hurricane evacuations.”

The plan at Sandpiper Rehab and Nursing Center on Anna Knapp Boulevard in Mount Pleasant is to shelter residents there, said Eric Hadley, vice president of operations for Premier Senior Living, which manages the nursing center and its retirement community.

"“Right now, our plan is to stay in place,"” Hadley said. “"We're operating on common sense and following the state’'s advice.”"

Engineering studies of the facility show it could withstand a Category 3 hurricane, but Hadley said the residents would be evacuated following the state'’s direction.

Because evacuating creates a burden on the residents, Hadley said it is wise to stay in place as long as Ernesto stays a tropical storm or depression.

“As a tropical storm, it would be much easier on our residents to shelter in place,” Hadley said.

The facility has extra medications, dry goods, food and water stocked up for an emergency. Hadley said it also tested its back-up generator, which will power the facility in case of a power outage.

If case of an evacuation, the facility would take residents who need hospital to a facility in Florence. Other residents would be sheltered in the companies facilities in Greenwood and Columbia, he said. Management also has made lists of which residents need to transported by ambulance and those who can travel by bus, he said.

Ernesto at 11 p.m.

The National Weather Service says a hurricane watch remains in effect from north of Altamaha Sound to Cape Fear, N.C., but the 11 p.m. advisory shows that the track has shifted to the east.

Over the past several hours, Ernesto has been moving toward the North-Northwest at near 8 MPH...13 KM/HR.  A turn to the north with an increase in forward speed is expected over the next 24 hours.

How much strengthening occurs after Ernest emerges into the Atlantic depends on how much of a storm is left. The GFDL model still wants to make Ernesto a hurricane in the Atlantic. Out of respect for the model, the official intensity for a Carolina's landfall is only reduced slightly.

There are no significant changes to the current forecast track or intensity of Ernesto.

An inland tropical storm watch remains in effect of Dorchester and Berkeley Counties and residents there should keep an eye out for rain and thunderstorms. 

Maximum winds are near 45 mph with higher gusts. Some weakening is expected later as the system moves inland. There remains a slight chance that Ernesto could strengthen to a hurricane on Thursday as it approaches the Carolina coast. 

Boaters on Lake Moultrie can expect extremely dangerous conditions on the lake Wednesday night through Thursday night.

From EOC: Voluntary evacuation Wednesday

County Council Chairman Leon Stavrinakis, speaking from the Emergency Operations Center in North Charleston, just announced a voluntary evacuation of the beaches, barrier islands, mobile homes, and low-lying areas of Charleston County starting tomorrow at noon.

"As of this moment, Charleston is ground-zero for landfall," Stavrinakis said.

Three shelters will open at 3 p.m., and they are all in the North Area: North Charleston High School, Stall High School and a special medical-needs shelter at 7750 Pinehurst. There's room for about 2,000 people at the two high school shelters. No pets are allowed, but there's an exception for service animals.

Charleston County schools will run an abbreviated 3.5-hour schedule Wednesday, but there are no plans the school schedule on Thursday or Friday yet.

Officials said they did not anticipate a mandatory evacuation would follow Wednesday's voluntary evacuation.

The next emergency briefing will be at 7:30 a.m., with the next press conference at 9 a.m.

Trident United Way 211

Trident United Way’s 211 Hotline will provide information before, during and after a storm. The hotline is staffed 24 hours a day with employees and volunteers, who will be working from the Charleston County Emergency Operations Center if Tropical Storm Ernesto poses a threat to the
Lowcountry.

The 211 workers will provide details on open shelters and available services for food, water and mental health services. They also are there for those who are scared or worried and need someone to talk to, which is one of the hotline’s primary missions.
For information, call 211 from a land line or 744-HELP (4357) from a cell phone.

Gov. Sanford's press conference

Gov. Mark Sanford told emergency preparedness officials after the 11 a.m. update that he has alerted the National Guard that it might be needed sometime tomorrow.  He stressed that this is not a major storm, but urged that residents begin to make plans for their families in case the storm strengthens during the day.

So far, there are no mandatory evacuation routes, or firm evacuation plans. Officials are meeting at 1 p.m. to make more decisions.