A browse through the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) Hurricane and Tropical Storms database, which runs from 1851 to 2020, is pretty enlightening.
In the 40 years (inclusive) from 1960 through 1999, DNR shows:
- 39 named storms have affected South Carolina.
- The word 'tornado' mentioned 18 times.
- The word flood, or a variant, listed 19 times.
- Words like 'heavy rainfall' listed 32 times.
In the 20 years (inclusive) from 2000 to 2020, DNR shows:
- 47 named storms affected South Carolina.
- The word 'flood,' or a variant, listed 22 times.
- Words like 'heavy rainfall' listed 34 times.
Oh, did I forget to mention tornadoes? The word shows up at least 120 times this century. And A), that doesn't include 2021 yet, and B), several entries say something along the lines of 'several tornadoes,' which means more than 120 twisters.
I had a chat with Dr. Susan Cutter, director of the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina, over the data. In the audio story above, Dr. Cutter makes the case of why simply categorizing storms based on wind speed is no longer the best approach, and how the path South Carolina is on in managing bigger, badder, wetter, and certainly oftener storms is not sustainable.
