City of Charleston prepares for Hurricane Matthew

As of 6 p.m., The City of Charleston is operating at OPCON 4. The city’s Emergency Management Department is in close communication with Charleston County and other local agencies about the potential for severe weather and receives frequent updates from the National Weather Service.

The city has been making preparations over the last couple of days for the potential impact of severe weather caused by Hurricane Matthew. Public Service Department employees are cleaning streets and clearing drains, ditches and basins in anticipation of heavy rains and high tides. Other city departments are making preparations to assist in evacuations, protect city buildings and pre-stage equipment throughout the city for post-storm recovery.

Residents are asked to assist the city in preparation efforts by securing loose objects on their property and cleaning up any debris that could clog storm drains.

The city of Charleston will shift to OPCON 3 and open the Municipal Emergency Operations Center (MEOC) at 8 a.m., Wednesday, October 5 to manage the city preparation and response to the storm. Representatives from throughout the city including Police, Fire, Public Service and Parks will staff the MEOC to ensure a quick an efficient response to any issues caused by the storm.

The City of Charleston has a limited number of free sandbags available to assist residents who anticipate localized flooding. They will be distributed from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. as long as it is safe to do so and sandbags remain available. The sandbags may be picked up from the following locations:

• City of Charleston Bees Ferry Fire Station at 1985 Bees Ferry Road.
• Milford Street Public Works Operations Complex at 2150 Milford Street. Enter the first gate on the right and proceed to the rear of the complex.

Sand, shovels and bags will be available for citizens to build their own sandbags at two James Island locations in cooperation with the Town of James Island:

• Dock Street Park, 1433 Patterson Avenue. Open dawn to dusk.
• Pinckney Park, 461 Fort Johnson Road. Open dawn to dusk.

Residents are limited to 15 sandbags per household. To purchase sandbags, citizens should contact a local home hardware store.

All City of Charleston parking garage locations will be open to the public to park their cars through the storm for free. Gates will be open starting at 3 p.m., Wednesday, October 5 through 8 a.m., Monday, October 10. Citizens should be advised that these facilities will not be staffed during the storm. Elevators will not be operational. Do not park on the ground level or the top deck.

For information about evacuation routes, pick-up points, and shelters visit www.scemd.org and download the Charleston County Hurricane Preparedness Guide.

For additional information residents should call the City of Charleston citizen information line starting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday at 843-973-7219.