Choose Charleston

Rain, clouds, and scattered thunderstorms: when severe weather warnings scroll across the bottom edge of regularly scheduled programming on the television, Charlestonians know that some parts of the peninsula should be avoided if at all possible.

The western edge of the peninsula was once a far wilder and wetter place of ponds and marsh before the land was filled in to build on. The long-ago landfill is why driving down Lockwood Boulevard can have a mild “roller-coaster” feel of up and down, up and down, bump, bump, bump. Over time, the stuff the land was filled with has settled.

It is also why there are notorious patches of Bee Street and Courtenay Drive, for example, where attempting to drive during a downpour can quite easily leave you with a towing bill and heavy repair costs.

Drainage has long been a major headache for the city in the rainy seasons. This is, after all, the South Carolina LOWcountry and Charleston proper, being a peninsula, is surrounded by mighty waters. Sandbags are a staple item for many a downtown business owner or resident, just a little something-something to have on hand in case of emergency.

The reward of the heavy rain is the lush greenery that soon follows, vines growing so fast everywhere you look that you can practically measure their progress hour by hour.