Dear Campus Community,
Be advised that the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued a Tropical Storm Warning for the coast of South Carolina from Edisto Beach to South Santee River. A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning, in this case for the next few hours. Pay attention to the latest weather forecasts and local news for updates.
Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall around 20 miles east of Charleston, near Mount Pleasant, this morning. Bertha is moving toward the north near at 15 mph, and this general motion is expected to continue through tonight with a gradual increase in forward speed. On the forecast track, Bertha will move inland across eastern and northern South Carolina later today and into central North Carolina by tonight. Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph with higher gusts. Weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours.
Bertha is expected to weaken to a tropical depression later today and become a remnant low tonight. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center. Tropical storm conditions are expected to continue near the coast for the next few hours. Bertha is expected to produce total rain accumulation of 2 to 4 inches with isolated totals of 8 inches across eastern and central South Carolina into west central to far southeastern North Carolina and southwest Virginia. Given very saturated antecedent conditions, this rainfall may produce life threatening flash flooding, aggravate and prolong ongoing river flooding, and produce rapid out of bank rises on smaller rivers.
Sincerely,
CofC Emergency Management Team