The mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, tells AccuWeather the city is as prepared as possible, but unprecedented amounts of rain could take residents to their limits.
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00:00Now, as Hurricane Debbie, or at least Tropical Storm Debbie, continues moving north and east,
00:05Charleston, South Carolina, is in the path.
00:09Joining us now is William Cogswell, the mayor of Charleston.
00:13Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon.
00:16Glad to be here, glad to be here with you.
00:19All right, we'll dive right into it.
00:21Mayor Cogswell, what is the latest?
00:24What are your teams dealing with in the here and now?
00:28Well, make a good point.
00:30We're trying to be very proactive and be ahead of this.
00:33We are expecting 10 to 20 inches of rainfall, in some cases up to 30 inches,
00:39which is absolutely unprecedented.
00:41Of course, we're at sea level.
00:43Our systems are not designed to handle this amount of water.
00:46And with the wind, with the tides, with the potential storm surge,
00:50and historic rainfall, we are bracing for the worst.
00:55So, I feel like we are prepared,
00:58but you never know what Mother Nature is going to throw at you.
01:03Hurdles that we are expected to have to overachieve.
01:07We know there's a great flood threat in your city whenever severe weather arrives.
01:12What are you most concerned about with this storm, particularly?
01:18Well, again, unprecedented amounts of rainfall.
01:21And as I mentioned, our system really is not designed to handle this amount of water
01:27in this short of a time period.
01:28We have some drainage systems that date back to the 1850s.
01:32So, we're working around the clock.
01:34Our first responders, our stormwater crews are pumping out drains,
01:39just getting prepared.
01:40You saw the sandbags.
01:42We have residents that are all leaning in to protect their properties,
01:46to protect other buildings.
01:48So, we've also been coordinating closely with state, federal, and county governments,
01:53as well as other municipalities.
01:55So, I feel like we are as prepared as we can be.
01:59We, I think, have been pretty organized on this,
02:03but, you know, it's going to be a lot.
02:06It's going to be a lot, and it's going to be over several days,
02:09which is just going to, I think, take people to their limits for sure.
02:15Yeah, you mentioned the residents coming together,
02:18and how a lot of residents are preparing well ahead.
02:23Though, do you think most are prepared as we get closer and closer
02:27towards the peak of the event?
02:29And is there any other advice that you want people to know?
02:34Yeah, I mean, look, this is not your average rainy day.
02:39This is a lot of water.
02:40So, we are urging residents to stay put, to not leave their homes.
02:45We have our emergency personnel that are well-trained,
02:50ready to respond to any rescue needs,
02:55but we're hoping people don't put our emergency responders in those positions.
03:01So, we're really encouraging residents to prepare today.
03:05We anticipate the worst of the storm starting kind of midday tomorrow
03:09and going on for 24 to 36 hours.
03:13And so, we're just, again, asking people to stay put and be safe.
03:19All righty. Thank you so much.
03:20Charleson Mayor William S. Cogswell Jr., thank you so much for joining us.
03:26And, of course, our thoughts and prayers with you.
03:29Stay safe.