South Carolina Emergency Management Division: Hurricane Plan

This Story Map is designed to give the viewer a general overview of South Carolina Emergency Management Division's (SCEMD) Hurricane Plan. For the complete plan, please visit our website:  scemd.org 

If you would like help on creating a personal hurricane plan for you or your family please feel free to download the  SC Hurricane Guide .

As required by state and federal law, South Carolina's policy is to be prepared for any emergency or disaster, including tropical cyclones (a generic term for tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes).

The purpose of this plan is to help SCEMD prevent or minimize injury to people, damage to property, and the environment resulting from a tropical cyclone. SCEMD plans and coordinates state and local resources for warning, evacuating, and sheltering South Carolina citizens and visitors.

Tropical cyclones are a significant threat to South Carolina. The state has six counties that border the Atlantic Ocean with more than 200 miles of coastline. There have been several recorded landfalls in South Carolina since 1851 ranging in strength from Tropical Storm to Category 4. The two strongest were Hurricane Hazel in 1954 and Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Remember, South Carolina can also be impacted by tropical cyclones that do not make landfall in the state but either remain offshore or come inland from the Gulf of Mexico or from Florida.

South Carolina is vulnerable to the effects of tropical cyclones. The major hazards being:

• Storm Surge
• Rainfall Induced Flooding
• High Winds
• Tornadoes

Storm surge inundation is the greatest threat to life and property in the coastal counties. Two inland counties, Dorchester and Berkeley, are also vulnerable to storm surge around the Ashley and Cooper Rivers.

The National Hurricane Center uses the  Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale  to categorize hurricane intensity based on sustained wind speeds. It is important to note that such factors as storm surge and rainfall induced flooding are not associated with the Saffir-Simpson Scale.

In 2014 the SC Hurricane Evacuation Study (HES) was prepared by the US Army Corps of Engineers in conjunction with FEMA. The HES is the principle reference tool used by state agencies and policy makers. It includes 5 components:

• Hurricane hazard analysis
• Vulnerability of the population
• Expected public response to evacuation
• Transportation analysis
• Shelter assessments and projected sheltering requirements

The HES provides tools for use by Emergency Managers in preparing for and initiating hurricane evacuation operations. Two key components are the hurricane evacuation zones and estimated evacuation clearance times.

Coastal counties have several clearance time modeling zones based on the hurricane surge flooding. Clearance times and the arrival of sustained tropical storm force winds are the 2 major considerations involved in issuing an evacuation order. Clearance time begins when the first evacuating vehicle enters the road network and ends when the last evacuating vehicle reaches an assumed point of safety. Clearance times can potentially exceed 40 hours for a strong hurricane during the peak tourist season.

Hurricane preparedness and mitigation efforts occur on a year-round basis, and SCEMD is the primary agency for coordination during tropical cyclones.

The State and the Counties adopted a unified approach in order to better prepare for, respond to, and recover from tropical cyclones. This approach divides the state into 4 regions - Northern, Central, Southern, and Western. Each County within a Region relies on the other Counties in the Region to assist in protecting, evacuating, sheltering, and returning its citizens from hurricane evacuations.

SCEMD recently moved to 3 OPCON levels, the hurricane plan will go into effect when the state moves to OPCON 2.

The hurricane plan is the principle source of documentation concerning the State's tropical cyclone activities. At minimum, SCEMD will review the plan on an annual basis and update / revise the plan as necessary throughout the period, completing the annual review prior to June 1st each year.

For a full text of the Hurricane Plan including all the attachments and appendixes, please visit our  website .