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MEAN HIGH WATER

Flooding & Sea Level Rise in the SC Lowcountry



ABOUT
Mean High Water (MHW) is a project documenting the impacts of sea level rise & flooding in and beyond the South Carolina Lowcountry. The title is in reference to the MHW tidal datum defined and maintained by the NOAA Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Service.

The tides of Charleston Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean are increasingly encroaching into the natural and built environment of Charleston and the Lowcountry. The rate of increase in the number of coastal flood events is alarming. Approximately 45% of all coastal floods observed in Charleston Harbor from 1953 through 2020 have occurred since 2010. An average of 18.8 coastal floods occurred per year in the 1990s. In the 2010s, the annual average was 42.4 coastal floods2, an increase of over 200%.

MHW was started in 2020 by photographer and engineer Jared Bramblett. It is intended to be an evolving and collaborative documentation of the impacts of flooding. If you are interested in participating and submitting to the project, please reach out. All content on this site is copyrighted. If you are interested in using any content, please submit a request.

CONTACT
Jared Bramblett
jaredbramblett@gmail.com

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All thoughts and opinions presented on this site are solely those of the author and are not necessarily those of any other organizations.

01    INDEX︎︎︎
02    CHARLESTON UNDER WATER ︎︎︎
03    LATEST/NEXT ︎︎︎
04    NEWSLETTER ︎︎︎
05    RESOURCES︎︎︎



RECORDS & STATISTICS
Charleston Harbor, Cooper River Entrance1
Coastal Floods (>7-ft MLLW)2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
89 (2019)
70 (2022)
68 (2020)
58 (2015)
55 (2016)

Major Coastal Floods (>8-ft MLLW)2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
7 (2020)
6 (2015)
4 (2021)
4 (2019)
3 (2022, 2018)

Peak Tide Crests (MLLW)3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
09/22/1989 - 12.52-ft (Hugo)
08/11/1940 - 10.23-ft (Unnamed)
09/11/2017 - 9.92-ft (Irma)
10/08/2016 - 9.29 (Matthew)
01/01/1987 - 8.81-ft 

29 of the 43 (67.4%) major flood tides on record have occurred since 2015.3

Statistics current as of 01/01/2023

REFERENCES
1Tidal Benchmark Station - Charleston, Cooper River Entrance, SC - Station ID: 8665530

2NWS Coastal Flood Event Database
3Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, Charleston, SC 

Surveying Elsa’s Impacts in Charleston

July 8, 2021

President Street looking south toward the Medical District
The remnants of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Elsa passed through Charleston last night and early this morning, and they packed a much bigger punch than I was expecting. There were several tornado warnings issued during the night, and the rain came in heavy downpours. Around 5AM, power went out at my house as one of her last bands moved through. As soon as the conditions began to stabilize, I headed out to assess the impacts. The flooding was widespread throughout the peninsula in the areas that usually flood, but it was not as bad as it could’ve been. In fact, the flooding from early June of this year seemed significantly worse. Weather Underground weather stations show that between three and four inches on the Peninsual since midnight, and there are some CoCoRaHS stations in West Ashley that indicate over six inches.

Simons Street, North Central Kings Plaza, North Central President Street, Cannonborough Huger Street, North Central Rutledge Ave, Westside President Street, Cannonborough Bee Street, Medical District Ashley Ave, Harleston Village Cannon Park, Harleston Village Lucas Blvd, Medical Distict Ashley Ave, Medical District Gadsden Street, Harleston Village Gadsden Street, Harleston Village Nunan Street, Westside Ashley Ave, Westside Ashley Ave, Westside Nunan Street, Westside Fishburne Street, Westside Kings Plaza, North Central Cotton Candy Skies after the storm Cotton Candy Skies after the storm; King Street, North Central

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