The Carolinas | Study warns of flooding in Charleston

South Carolina

CHARLESTON

Study warns of flooding in Charleston

During the last El Nino season in late 2009 and early 2010, storms turned some of Charleston's quick-to-flood streets into canals. A new study says future El Ninos are likely to make things even messier.

After the 2009 El Nino, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration examined five decades of data on water levels and storm surges in Charleston, Boston, Atlantic City, N.J., and Norfolk, Va.

They found that in El Nino years, these areas generally had three times as many storm surges as normal. Typical sea levels were about 4 inches higher than meteorologists expected.

In Charleston, that meant flooding was particularly severe in low-lying areas during the last El Nino; kayakers paddled down several streets for fun during several storms, while rising waters claimed parked cars and made some streets impassable.

No El Nino is expected to form this year, but when it does return, it's likely to generate higher sea levels and more storm surges.

NORTH CHARLESTON

City Council passes no-burn ordinance

Burning leaves and other yard debris is now banned in North Charleston.

City Council on Thursday passed a no-burn ordinance after a public hearing in which opponents said they were losing a right to control their property, and advocates said it meant the end of nuisance runaway smoke.

"When you burn on your property, you cannot contain the smoke on your property," said Councilman Kurt Taylor, among those who backed the measure in the 7-3 approval.

The maximum fine for anyone caught operating an illegal burn runs to $500. Mayor Keith Summey said a first offense could result in a warning.

The ban takes effect immediately.

Under the ordinance, most types of outside burning would be outlawed, except in certain instances, such as grilling food or when someone is using a portable fireplace or wood-burning stove.

Fires for oyster roasts also are permitted.

COLUMBIA

Police seize cocaine, weapons in raid

Columbia police found 60 grams of cocaine inside a safe bolted to a shelf in the closet of a home they raided Friday morning in the city's Martin Luther King Park neighborhood.

The department's drug suppression team received a citizen's tip about possible drug dealing inside a home on the 2500 block of Bratton Street, said Jennifer Timmons, a police spokeswoman. Officers went to the home about 11 a.m. and found 10 grams of cocaine and then noticed the safe. After receiving a search warrant for the safe, the Columbia Fire Department helped open the safe, where officers found the larger amount of cocaine.

Police also seized guns and surveillance equipment posted around the house.

A woman in the house was arrested on drug distribution charges. Three children inside the house were placed in the custody of relatives, Timmons said. Police have an arrest warrant for a man who also lived in the house.

CHARLESTON

1 charged in burglary of police chief's home

Authorities have arrested a man accused of breaking into the home of Charleston's police chief.

Police spokesman Charles Francis says 23-year-old Brian Thomas Rogers of Hanahan was charged Tuesday with second-degree burglary and petit larceny.

On June 8, police say Chief Greg Mullen's wife saw someone running away from the back of her house when she got home around 3:45 p.m. Mullen's wife went inside, saw that a kitchen window had been broken out and called 911.

Police have not said how they connected Rogers to the break-in. Authorities say a laptop was stolen, but the burglar apparently dropped it.

LAURENS

Prosecutor might seek death penalty

A prosecutor is considering whether he'll pursue the death penalty against a man charged with killing a Laurens County deputy.

Solicitor Jerry Peace told The Greenville News on Friday that he is reviewing investigators' files before deciding whether he'll seek the death penalty against 39-year-old Bennie Ray Brown Jr.

Authorities say 29-year-old deputy Roger Rice was shot Wednesday night at a home near Clinton as he tried to arrest a suspect wanted in the killing of his girlfriend a few hours before at her job at a Fountain Inn auto parts plant.

Brown was shot in the leg, but is expected to recover. He was still in the hospital Friday.

Rice's funeral is set for Sunday.

NORTH CAROLINA

RALEIGH

Wildfires depleting opposition resources

The wildfires that have raged across North Carolina this year have also been burning through state resources devoted to fighting them.

WRAL-TV reports that the state has so far spent nearly $20 million putting down wildfires so far.

State Forest Service Director Wib Owen says that comes on top of about a 40 percent budget reduction since 2007. That's forced the state to do things like ask other states to borrow aircraft this year.