SC Now Orders Evacuations Based on Flood Zone Maps...NC says...There's No Global Water Rise!

[KoKo]

Hurricane evacuations now ordered by zones based on flooding maps
BY BO PETERSEN

The governor, it turns out, is experienced at hurricane evacuation: Nikki Haley had to move her wedding from Hilton Head to Columbia ahead of Hurricane Fran.

“Planning is key,” Haley said, recalling the 1996 nuptials shift.
SC 2012 Hurricane Guide

Haley, state and local officials gathered Friday for what has become the traditional South Carolina kick-off to hurricane season: the governor's press conferences in coastal Beaufort, Charleston and Horry counties.
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“We are ready,” Haley told media at the Charleston County Emergency Operations Center. “What we want is to make sure the people of South Carolina are ready.”

The message has a new emphasis this year. Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties now each have at least three evacuation “zones” based on storm and riverine surge, or flooding threat. An evacuation may be called for specific zones rather than the county overall, depending on the storm.

Know your zone and make preparations, officials said.

“We have seen (with new flood mapping) we're going to have more inundation from storm surge” than previously thought, said Mario Formisano, Dorchester County emergency management director.

The key evacuation zone runs from the Charleston peninsula up to Ladson Road, taking in Daniel Island and portions of all three counties.

That zone would be included in any mandatory evacuation ordered, said Cathy Haynes, Charleston County emergency management chief.

Evacuations now will be called by governor's order; voluntary evacuations will no longer be called.

The new system could limit some evacuation orders to people living more directly in surge or flood prone areas; officials stressed that people who don't live in those zones also should evacuate if they are in low-lying areas, manufactured homes or feel they are in jeopardy.

“I would not discourage anyone from evacuating if they feel they need to for their personal safety,” said Tom Smith, Berkeley County emergency preparedness director.

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20120609/PC16/120609080/1177/hurricane-evacuations-now-ordered-by-zones-based-on-flooding-maps

AND HERE's WHAT NC...PROGRESSIVE STATE (PURPLE FOR OBAMA) thinks about THIS:

North Carolina Bill Would Require Coastal Communities To Ignore Global Warming Science


Some North Carolina GOP legislators want to stop the use of science to plan for the future. They are circulating a bill that would force coastal counties to ignore actual observations and the best science-based projections in planning for future sea level rise.

King Canute thought he had the power to hold back the tide (in the apocryphal legend). These all-too-real lawmakers want to go one better and mandate a formula that projects a sea level rise of at most 12 inches this century, far below what the science now projects.

A state-appointed science panel reviewed the recent literature and reported that a 1-meter (39 inch) rise is likely by 2100. Many coastal studies experts think a level of 5 to 7 feet should be used, since you typically plan for the plausible worst-case scenario, especially with expensive, long-lived infrastructure.

The 2011 report by the National Academy of Science for the U.S. Navy on the national security implications of climate change concluded:

Based on recent peer-reviewed scientific literature, the Department of the Navy should expect roughly 0.4 to 2 meters global average sealevel rise by 2100, with a most likely value of about 0.8 meter. Projections of local sea-level rise could be much larger and should be taken into account for naval planning purposes,

Rob Young, a geology professor at Western Carolina University and a member of the state science panel, pointed out to the North Carolina Coastal Federation (NCCF) that this proposed law stands against the conclusions of “every major science organization on the globe.” Young notes, “Every other state in the country is planning on three-feet of sea level rise or more.” The Charlotte Observer notes:

More at.....

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/05/31/493086/north-carolina-bill-would-require-coastal-communities-to-ignore-global-warming-science/



http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/05/31/493086/north-carolina-bill-would-require-coastal-communities-to-ignore-global-warming-science/