Charleston Drainage System Comparison

Certainly there were many wondering whether or not Charleston was going to become the next Atlantis; a city submerged completely under water due to some catastrophic event, to forever be lost in history and time. Well, that did not happen, but due to the low pressure system delivered to Charleston via Hurricane Joaquin, the whole peninsula did experience a great deal of flooding that will cost citizens upwards of tens of millions of dollars in damage and even cost several their lives. But the question remains: what really caused the flooding in Charleston, an area, that compared to other parts of the state, did not receive that much rain, and why was that water still there several days later?

The answer to these questions lies with the Charleston drainage system and the tides. According to the Charleston Department of Public Service, the drainage system is far more complex than the public would like to believe. So, not one thing on its own is going to drastically change the amount of flooding that occurs. The city has been trying to make improvements to the system since the 1800s, and still in 2015, the city is having problems with effectively …show more content…
As the polar ice caps melt, the fresh water deposited into the ocean causes the sea level to rise which in turn makes the tides themselves higher. These higher tides accompanied by any rainfall that is greater than a few inches causes the streets of Charleston to flood. The difference in height of the drainage system compared to sea level is what causes the water to drain, but since the sea level, due to global warming, has been become increasingly higher, the rainwater has difficulty draining because the difference in height is not drastic enough. With a decreased slope, due to a rising tide, the drainage system cannot keep up with the