A post-event review of the October 2015 floods in South Carolina: a deep dive into the Columbia and Charleston event

This study looks in detail at two very different floods: Columbia and Charleston floods, which occurred due to the October 2015 torrential rainfall and flooding in South Carolina. Based on interviews with impacted households and people involved in risk reduction, response and recovery at the city, county, state and federal level, the study identifies lessons learned from the floods and provides recommendations for enhancing flood resilience.

Some of the key resilience recommendations include:

• To foster a cultural shift where people seek out information on their risks and where government agencies make that information readily available;
• To leverage the opportunity provided by technology, by strengthening early warning systems and making the warnings themselves more relevant and actionable, while at the same time, communicating the limits of our knowledge and the places where individuals need to be prepared, informed, and use their best judgment;

The insights and learnings from this study can be applied not just in Charleston and Columbia, but across the US and globally.