Charleston is in the process of considering plans to build an eight-mile sea wall around the peninsula. We know the goal — to protect the city from life-threatening storm surge during hurricanes — but we still had a lot of questions. Reporter Chloe Johnson joined us on the podcast to discuss what's known and what's still unclear about the proposal.
Earlier this year, Charleston got a first looks at plans for what would be the city's biggest and most complicated flooding mitigation program yet: a sea wall that would wrap eight miles around the peninsula.
The wall was the preferred path chosen by the Army Corps of Engineers, which was tasked with figuring out a way to better protect the city from life-threatening storm surge during hurricanes.
Immediately, a slew of questions were raised: How would it work? What would it look like? Where would it go? How much would it cost, and who would be paying for it?
Some of those answers were available. (We know, for example, that the estimated price tag is $1.75 billion, and Charleston would have to cover $600 million of that bill.) Other questions can't be answered yet.
To help clear up what we know and what we don't, reporter Chloe Johnson joined us to discuss the plans, which she has been following closely since they were rolled out in the spring.
We also talked about how the sea wall proposal — and the debate that's surrounded it — is representative of an existential question the Charleston peninsula faces as sea levels rise and flooding becomes more frequent: wall off the waters or retreat to higher ground?
Listen now to learn more.