Events in and around Beaufort
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Have our seen them? How could you not!
A Big Thank You to Main Street Beaufort for taking the lead and to the many volunteers who have been working for years to develop, manufacture and install appropriate way finding signs for downtown Beaufort. I am proud of the signs which were a long time coming, and seemingly well worth the wait.
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One Time Event? Or Wake Up Call?
It appears the stars were aligned to create a "one time" flooding event that brought dreadful pain and havoc to many across out state/ While I wish this was the case, I do not think this was a one time event, a 500 year event or a 1000 year event. Rather I think it may very well be a wake up call or preview of what the future may look like.
While my heart and prayers (and water to those who needed it) goes out to the many families who suffered and those still struggling to get back into their homes and return to work I believe this event gives us time to take pause and think about the future as we continue to help those need.
While fortunately Beaufort did not get awash like Charleston, Columbia, Sumter and other communities throughout South Carolina, we did see significant inundation not notunlike what scientists tell us could be the impact of rising sea levels.
For example, had the hurricane come ashore during the already threatening event caused by unusual high tides, the storm surge could have been significantly higher starting on the base water level which was literally several feet above the norm.
The more I learn, I continue to believe even more strongly that rising sea levels are likely the largest infrastructure challenge the next generation faces, though we currently continue to focus on infrastructure including more roads for evacuation from places that may one day not even exist.
By means do I want to frighten anyone to suggest the sky will fall in next week, next year or even in the next decade or more, but I have met with professionals from the scientific community for the past six months and the more I listen and learn, the more I believe there is a real threat in he future. The good news is that if we begin to study our vulnerabilities and develop plans, I believe the problem is solvable. But it will take time and money over a period of years to truly understand the effect and develop plans to become more resilient.
Beaufort, the only City in SC that has community initiated all volunteer Sea Level Rise Task Force, is ahead of the game. As the tides rose, members were out confirming what they call the hot spots or most vulnerable places where inundation could occur. I am hoping we will find the resources to begin costing out engineering, from foundations or federal grants, to fully understand the risks and the answers for the future.
The week before last I was asked to talk with planners and disaster preparedness officials from Horry and Georgetown Counties whose municipalities and counties are not focusing on this near or far term challenge. I bet there will be more interest after the lessons of this week though I am so sorry it took what it did to get their attention. I have since heard from some of the participants and referred them to the experts, because I am not an expert and likely will never be an expert.
Later this month I will serve on a panel of Mayors convening in New Hampshire to raise awareness of the challenges of sea level rise. Thanks to the Task Force, Beaufort is on the map which is why they reached out and asked me to speak.
Below are some of the images taken by members of the Task Force and city officials on Saturday after the tide began to recede.
Henry C Chambers Waterfront Park After the Tide Began to Recede
King and East Street on The Point After the Tide Began to Recede
Dataw Island and Mossy Oaks back yards as the Tide had Started to Recede -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Huffington Post October 6, 2015
After the storm comes the sun.
The chief executive of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday urged workers to return to their jobs in hopes of kickstarting the region's economy after combined storm systems deluged 11 counties around the state capital.
"It's a sunny day here," Frank Knapp Jr. told The Huffington Post in a phone interview. "It's the first time I've seen sun in many days."
Floodwaters inundated homes and businesses around the state on Sunday after rains from Hurricane Joaquin combined with other weather systems. On Tuesday morning, the death toll from the storm rose to at least 11. The cost of damages is soaring beyond $1 billion. Some businesses in the inundated counties reported looting, according to local newspaper The State.
But commerce can carry humankind through its bleakest hours.
READ MORE
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Thanks to climate change and stronger storms, floods
wash the streets of Manhattan much more often, study says.
September 28, 2015
By Phil McKenna
The New York Times
New York City is vulnerable to rising seas and larger, more powerful storms that result in more frequent and intense flooding and what was once a 500-year flood prior to human-induced climate change now occurs on average once every 24 years. This is according to a study published Monday [2] in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Flood heights are increasing and have increased since the pre-anthropogenic era, not only because of rising sea levels but also because of the impact that climate change is having on tropical cyclones," said lead author Andra Reed of Penn State University. ..... READ MORE
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Some interesting images for those who have the time and interest to preview them.
View some scary
roads.
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A Special Acknowledgement and THANKS to the Beaufort County Association of Realtors and the many, I mean many, compassionate people who provided urgently needed drinking water to our neighbors in the upstate.
Fortunately potable drinking water is now available in communities that lost it during the event, so the water is delivered and it appears there is no need for more.
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As Featured in Garden and Gun, Magazine
Go "LCP"!
Beaufort, South Carolina
302 Carteret Street has been an important address in Beaufort, South Carolina, for almost a century.
First it was a post office, and then it was city hall. Today it's a breezy market and café where locals get together over warm buttermilk biscuits and fried-to-order yeast doughnuts.
"A lot of people say the store feels like the community center," says Noel Garrett, part owner of a family business that began more than twenty years ago at a produce stand ten miles outside town. He sells local vegetables at the urban outpost, but also stocks everything from green tomato relish to grits milled nearby to take-home containers of pimento cheese and chicken salad.
"We have always said that if we're going to be in the restaurant business, it's going to be real food," Garrett says. Many of the provisions on the shelves also count among the fifty-some items Lowcountry Produce sells to stores all over the country (including Dean & DeLuca), inspired by family recipes and hand made in a kitchen behind the produce stand.
It's the sort of old-fashioned fare that attracts both twenty-somethings and customers who have taken home locally grown vegetables since long before they became fashionable. And even people who can't tell collards from chard line up for the doughnuts. "They're nothing fancy," Garrett says. "Just glazed. But they are melt-in-your-mouth good." lowcountryproduce.com
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Beaufort County offering secure document shredding Oct. 10
Beaufort County's solid waste and recycling division will hold a secure document shredding event Oct. 10 at the public works department site in Beaufort, according to a news release.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 80 Shanklin Road.
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For those who may not know, The SC Environmental Law Project (SCELP) is the organization that has taken on our battle by providing free legal counsel to the SC coastal communities who are trying to stop offshore seismic testing and drilling for oil and gas. The the support that allows them to provide these free services come from fundraising events like these. I plan to be there and hope you will consider joining us for what will be a fun and worthwhile event. Thank you SCELP. I will be there and have to express my appreciation and have already made my reservation on line. I hope you will join me and the many others who will be at the Beaufort Bash.
By the way the locally grown oysters are the best in the world!
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JUST SAY NO TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE MONTH
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month -
Please Join Us!
CODA is offering many opportunities this October to get involved and say "NO MORE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE" in South Carolina. We hope that you will take the time to visit an exhibit and join us for an event.
Month Long Exhibits:
Clothesline Project: All libraries in Beaufort, Hampton, Colleton, and Jasper Counties and at the DSS office in Ridgeland.
Wedding Gown Memorial Project: Hampton, Colleton and Jasper County Courthouses
Month Long Events:
Shear Miracle Color Me Purple Fundraiser: Shear Miracle Salon in Hilton Head is offering $10 foils and extensions for the month of October. All proceeds will be donated to CODA. Call 843-785-4333 for more information.
St. Marks Episcopal Church Paper Goods Drive: St. Marks in Port Royal is collecting paper goods and diapers for CODA during the month of October. Call 843-379-1020 for more information.
Special Events:
October 10th at 5:00 p.m.: "Hear My Story" at the Agape Center in Levy
October 15th and 22nd: Bluffton Farmers Market Awareness Table
October 17th: Port Royal Farmers Market Awareness Table
October 17th: Walterboro Farmers Market Awareness Table
October 20th at 6:00 p.m.: Community Candlelight Vigil at Shelter Cove Community Park in Hilton Head
October 26th at 7:30 p.m.: JCDVCC Candlelight Vigil at the Ridgeland/Hardeeville High School Football Game, Ridgeland
October 30th at 7:30 p.m.: Candlelight Vigil at the Beaufort High School Football Game at Beaufort High
We look forward to your support throughout the month!
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Beaufort Symphony Orchestra inaugurates it's 30th year
"Symphonic Showcase"
on Oct. 22 and 25
Beaufort Symphony Orchestra will feature two of the greatest composers of all time, Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, in "Symphonic Showcase" to usher in its 2015-2016 season and begin a year-long celebration of its 30th anniversary. The second of Haydn's 12 London Symphonies, Symphony No.94 in G Major was written in 1791 in the full bloom of his musical genius. It became known as the "Surprise Symphony" due to a sudden, loud cord amidst a gentle staccato in the second movement, typical of his subtle wit. Despite the fame of the work based on this musical joke, the rest of the piece is a brilliant, virtuoso tour de force, filled with charm, drama and warmth. During his time in London, Hayden became somewhat of an 18th century rock star to his fans, who turned out by the thousands to attend his premieres. He loved the attention and the frequent dinner invitations to all the best homes, as well as the sizable income realized from the packed concert halls. Ludwig Van Beethoven fondly referred to his Symphony No. 8 in F, written in 1812, as "my little Symphony in F" in contrast to the much longer "Pastoral" Symphony No. 6. The work is also filled with little jokes and imitations and described as the most delightful and humorous of his works. It is unusually upbeat for Beethoven and the influence of his friend and mentor, Haydn, is evident. It was not well received by the critics who suggested that his 7th, written two months earlier, was better. Beethoven shrugged off their criticism by saying the critics didn't grasp the 8th because it was so much greater. Tchaikovsky agreed, praising the work as "one of the greatest symphonic masterpieces of Beethoven." Five Concert Season Maestro Frederick Devyatkin has created a delightful repertoire of programs to celebrate the orchestra's 30th anniversary, beginning with "Symphonic Showcase" on Oct. 22 and 25. "Winter Wonderland" on Dec. 17 and 20 will feature the Maestro as soloist in Bach's Concerto in A for Violin and include a delightful montage of festive holiday music. Guest artist Tamas Kocsis will once again delight audiences in "Romantic Virtuosi" on Feb. 25 and 28, with Paganini's Concerto No. 1 in D, Opus 6, and with the orchestra in Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3, "Scottish." The spring concert will host the Savannah quintet Velvet Caravan in a salute to Django Reinhardt, "Slavic Swing" on May 12 and 15. A very special fifth concert will showcase the adult orchestra and the 50-member Beaufort Symphony Youth Orchestra together on stage in a "Side by Side Gala" on April 10 at Beaufort High School Performing Arts Center. To hear more about these outstanding concerts watch a video of musical director and conductor Fred Devyatkin on the orchestra's website at www.beaufortorchestra.org . You can also order your season tickets or individual concert tickets on the site, or call 1-800-595-4849. Concert Venue on Lady's Island All concerts with the exception of the "Side by Side Gala" will be held at Sea Island Presbyterian Church on Lady's Island. Thursday concerts are at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday concerts are at 4:00 p.m. A map with directions is also on the website. Adult tickets are $40.00 and students are $15 at the door. Concerts are funded in part by the SC Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Take a Minute to help The Lowcountry Council of Governments
with Pre-Disaster Hazard Mitigation Plan
complete the survey
The Lowcountry Council of Governments (LCOG) is currently updating the
Pre-Disaster Hazard Mitigation Plans for Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties
as required every five years by FEMA and the South Carolina Emergency Management Division.
Lowcountry residents have the opportunity to take part in the planning to prevent major property damage and other losses caused by natural disasters. Risks and hazards-including wind, wildfires, ice storms and flooding-have been identified and assessed. The next step requires structuring a list of possible action steps to help mitigate any damage caused by these and other hazards. Suggestions, comments and questions from area residents will ensure that all members of the community are represented and no concerns are overlooked. LCOG has prepared a very brief survey that will only take a few minutes to complete. Follow this link to access the short questionnaire:
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