Live5News.com
A costal storm in Charleston has nearly quadrupled the reported number of damaged houses and businesses after Hurricane Idalia. According to the owner of Sheila’s Shamrocks the amount of storm water was “unexpected” and resulted in “[t]he entire front store flood[ing]” along with the roof leaking. The store lost merchandise and had to close for repairs.
There are four categories the City places damages to homes and businesses in: affected, minor, major and destroyed. Affected describes when a building only took a small amount of damage and is habitable without repairs. Minor means the building is inhabitable but can be fixed within 30 days and the damage repairs will cost less than half of the home’s value. Major means the building is inhabitable and will require extensive repairs that will take over 30 days. Destroyed means the building is totally lost.
The data is used to guide future stormwater projects, and it is also used as background information when a property owner is interested in having the City acquire their property.