Gucci store collapses, streets flood as Hurricane Ian batters Charleston, photos show

A Gucci storefront collapsed onto a sidewalk, trees were ripped from the ground and streets were inundated with water in Charleston as Hurricane Ian made landfall in South Carolina as a Category 1 storm, photos and videos from the city show.

Charleston, a city of around 150,000 and popular tourist destination known for its historic downtown and colonial architecture became a disaster zone on Friday, Sept. 30, as Hurricane Ian made landfall.

“Heavy flooding, extreme wind, and waves crashing above boats at a harbor in downtown Charleston,” Dan Whittaker, a storm chaser and photojournalist tweeted at around 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 30 along with a video of the hurricane sweeping through different parts of the city.

The city began experiencing torrential rainfall even before the hurricane made landfall in Georgetown, about 60 miles northeast of Charleston.

The intersection of Market and Church streets, which meet in the middle of the Historic Charleston City Market, was underwater, according to a video tweeted by Forrest Tucker, a reporter for WCBD, at around noon that day. The video shows wind whipping tree branches and water rushing through the streets.

As the storm intensified, officers with the Charleston Police Department were told to shelter in place at around 1 p.m. due to the extreme weather conditions.

“They will, on a limited capacity, respond to critical calls only until further notice,” the department wrote in a post on Facebook.

Deputies with the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office were also told to shelter in place.

“If you venture out and need help, you may not get help quickly,” the office wrote in a post on Facebook. “Please stay inside.”

The city, which is surrounded by water on three sides is particularly vulnerable to flooding, according to the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science . A 2020 report from the agency predicted that flooding would continue to worsen due to a rise in sea level.

While the city experienced flooding events around 2 days a year in 1950, the agency said that by 2051, that number would rise to 60.

Ian’s destructive path

Hurricane Ian slammed into South Carolina just days after it devastated communities across the Florida panhandle. The storm hit Fort Myers as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 28, causing catastrophic damage before sweeping across the rest of the state, leaving flooded streets, downed trees and destroyed homes in its wake.

Nearly 2 million were without power and at least 33 people in Florida had died due to causes related to the storm, according to ABC News.

Though Ian weakened to a tropical storm after ravaging Florida, it strengthened again to hurricane status after leaving Florida’s Atlantic coast and traveling over the ocean toward South Carolina.

In Charleston, as of around 3 p.m. on Sept. 30, police officers had finished sheltering in place, according to an update from the police department.

At 5:30 p.m., the department posted an update warning residents to be careful as they moved about the city.

“Many areas have hidden obstacles and debris that might cause injury to persons or damage to vehicles,” the department said in a statement. “Often standing water may not be clean and sanitary.”

The storm left more than 187,000 people without power in South Carolina, according to ABC News.

The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, said in a statement on Facebook that residents of the city were lucky the storm wasn’t worse.

“The worst of the storm has passed,” the post says. “A few branches have fallen, and there is little to no flooding on campus.”

Hours after making landfall, the storm weakened to a tropical rainstorm, according to Accuweather.

Meteorologists said the storm would continue to track north through North Carolina and Virginia over the weekend.

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