Governor Henry McMaster lifted the evacuation order for all residents in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester Counties at noon today.
South Carolina Department of Transportation has asked that citizens returning to the area remain patient and expect lengthy travel times, potentially blocked roadways, or detours back to evacuated areas, and are asked not to drive around barricades or use emergency lanes that are needed for first responders.
The city of Charleston Municipal Operations Center will close at 5 p.m. today and emergency operations will return to OPCON 5 at that time.
City of Charleston teams completed formal damage assessments throughout the city this morning and reported minimal damage.
Citizens can self-report damage, such as trees in rights of way or malfunctioning traffic lights, by calling the City of Charleston Citizen Services desk at 843-724-7311 or logging it here:
http://gis.charleston-sc.gov/report-damage/.
The Citizen Services Desk will be staffed until 5 p.m. this evening.
City offices will open for regular business Monday morning, September 17.
Residential trash and garbage pickup will resume on the normal schedule starting Monday. Throughout the week, crews will pick up all garbage and debris placed at the curb (excluding e-waste), even bags that do not fit in the cart. Commercial trash and garbage collection will resume Sunday, September 16.
Citizens who parked their vehicles in city parking garages for free for the storm are asked to remove their vehicles by 11:30 p.m. Monday.
Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said, “The National Weather Service told us this would be a very dangerous storm, and unfortunately that turned out to be true for many just to our north. Here in Charleston, we were blessed to be spared the direct hit, but we’re praying for those who were not, and stand ready to send help in the coming days to assist with the recovery efforts.”