Flood Zone?

Hi, our son may be moving to Charleston (I hope so!). He would be working at the MUSC. He%26#39;s a young professional with limited income %26amp; now lots of educational debt. In reading the forums I see it suggested that he look to buy a condo in the James Island or West Ashley area to reduce his commute and traffic headaches. He was living in New Orleans and went through the Katrina nightmare. Are there areas in Charleston that are less likely to flood than others?

Judy

Flood Zone?

Charleston isn%26#39;t likely to flood like New Orleans did. There is no nearby lake or levee system.

Flood Zone?

Charleston isn%26#39;t likely to flood like New Orleans did. There is no nearby lake or levee system.

True, but occasionally we see on the national news flooding in Charleston when there is lots of rain. Seems there would be better areas than others in Charleston to stay high and dry.

As mentioned we don%26#39;t have the flood zones like New Orleans...thank goodness! We do however have a pretty poor city drainage system so when it rains, the downtown area ';floods'; but it subsides in a few hours once the rain stops. The MUSC area is one of the worst areas for the ';floods'; but again, it%26#39;s more of a nuisance than anything else.

James Island and West Ashley (closer to Holiday Inn bridge) would be good choices as the commute will not be that bad. With limited income, definitely avoid Mt. Pleasant and Daniel Island as the prices are very high.

Best wishes to him!

As I was walking my dog the other day, a lady stopped and was asking me pretty much the same questions. Her daughter just moved here and is working at MUSC and she wants to buy a home. I live West Ashley in a pretty nice area and there are lots of students in my neighborhood - owners and renters alike.

Anyway, this lady was asking about a particular house we were near, whether it was in a ';floody'; area; I told her that I didn%26#39;t think it was but she told me what they wanted for it and I nearly fell over. This house is just over 1400sqft and they want $217,000 for it!!! It wasn%26#39;t that impressive (although it was a light colored brick) and she could tell by my response exactly how I felt about that. I suggested that she use this house as a baseline and look around. There are many houses in the West Ashley are that are for sale.

As for your situation, have your son go online to one of the realtors such as Prudential or Century 21 and just do some comparative shopping. Those of us on this forum who live in Charleston will be glad to help in any way we can.

The highest point in all of downtown Charleston is about 11 feet above sea level.

When we have unusually high tides (full moon) sometimes the streets will have minor flooding due to sea water coming up thru the storm drains. Rain and high tide combined will flood the streets. In extremely unusual circumstances, such as a tropical storm dropping ALOT of rain there can be fairly substancial flooding. During that exact situation I once had to wade in water up to my waist, right on Calhoun St., near Smith St. I lived downtown for a number of years while attending grad school. Mostly the flooding was fairly mild, usually gone in a few hours and nothing more than a pain in the neck.

Hope your son will enjoy Charleston and his new job.

Thank you so much for your responses! I%26#39;ve been out of town for the weekend and am delighted to return to find your helpful comments. I may in contact with you later. Thanks again.

Parts of Charleston flood when there is a heavy rain because the drainage system is so old. The street in between MUSC and Roper hospitals is notorious for flooding.

If he is looking to purchase something he will get more for his money in James Island or West Ashley.

We really appreciate your help. Hopefully he will end up moving to Charleston %26amp; then we%26#39;ll be in contact again.