Charleston, Dorchester, Berkeley, and South Carolina resources

Look up your evacuation zone, sign up for your county’s text alerts, and save the outage numbers for your electric and water utilities. Zone boundaries, shelter openings, sandbag sites, and some phone numbers change. Recheck official sites at the start of each hurricane season (1 June–30 November in the Atlantic).

In a life-threatening emergency, call 911. This page is a household reference, not a substitute for instructions from local officials or the National Weather Service.

Several municipalities cross county lines, so the alerts, evacuation zone, and utilities that apply to you may differ from a neighbor in the same town. The Town of Summerville states that its jurisdictional boundaries lie in portions of Dorchester, Charleston, and Berkeley Counties. The City of North Charleston states that the city lies within Dorchester, Berkeley, and Charleston Counties. The City of Hanahan publishes a Berkeley County resource page for its residents. The City of Goose Creek publishes Berkeley County emergency information, including the county hurricane guide, on its official site. Confirm your county on a tax bill, voter registration, or a Know Your Zone address lookup, and follow official alerts for each county where you live or spend a lot of time.

Statewide

Resource	What it is and how to use it
SCEMD	South Carolina Emergency Management Division. Statewide preparedness, hurricane information, and official announcements.
hurricane.sc	Official state hurricane hub: zone maps, evacuation information, and the SC Hurricane Guide.
Know Your Zone	Look up an address on the interactive map. This is the only reliable way to know your evacuation zone. Berkeley and Dorchester Counties use different zone letters than Charleston County.
SC 511	SCDOT road conditions, closures, and evacuation travel information. You can also dial 511. The 511SC app is available in app stores (search “511SC”).
SC Emergency Manager app	Official SCEMD app (Apple App Store and Google Play). Build a personal plan and supplies list, look up your zone, find open shelters, share location with contacts, and submit damage reports. Many features work without a data connection, but do not rely on a phone alone.
SC Public Information Phone System (PIPS)	A statewide information hotline that SCEMD activates during large disasters: 1-866-246-0133. It is not staffed in ordinary times. Source: SCEMD FAQ.

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on compatible phones and NOAA Weather Radio carry official warnings without a separate sign-up. NWS Charleston is the local forecast office: weather.gov/chs. The FEMA app can deliver National Weather Service alerts for up to five U.S. locations.

Open public shelters, when they exist, are announced storm by storm. Ready.gov says you can text SHELTER and your ZIP code to 43362, and you should also check county and SCEMD announcements. Do not assume a school listed in an old news story is open.

Medical Equipment Power Shelters (MEPS) are a statewide option, announced when they are open, for people who need backup power for a medical device, to refrigerate medication, or for a medical or specialty bed. Medical care is not provided there. South Carolina DPH says registration and admission are done at the time of an event; pre-registration is not possible. Only service animals are allowed. During a weather emergency or disaster, call the DPH Triage Line at 1-833-351-9990. The same number appears in the 2026 Charleston County Hurricane Guide. A MEPS is a last resort; plan first with your clinician for another place with power.

Burn bans and yard-debris burning. Check the South Carolina Forestry Commission bans and alerts page and your city or county fire rules before you burn anything. State and governor burning bans do not apply inside town or city limits, but local ordinances may still restrict burning. Outside municipal limits, state law requires you to notify the Forestry Commission before outdoor burning (leave your name, address, and phone): Charleston County 1-800-986-3593, Berkeley County 1-800-895-7063, Dorchester County 1-800-986-3746. Stay with the fire, and do not treat a past announcement as a current ban or a current all-clear.

Charleston County

Emergency Management website: charlestoncounty.gov/departments/emergency-management

Address: 8500 Palmetto Commerce Parkway, North Charleston, SC 29456

Line	Number	When to use it
Life-threatening emergency	911	Always, for a life-threatening emergency
Emergency Management (non-emergency)	(843) 746-3800	Office and preparedness questions. This is the primary number on the EM site and in the 2026 Hurricane Guide.
Additional EM number listed on the county site	(843) 225-7728	Listed as a phone number on the EM department pages; the site does not label it separately from 746-3800
Fax	(843) 746-3810	Listed as fax on the Community Alert System page
Community Information Line (English)	(843) 746-3900	Only when the Emergency Operations Center is activated, per the 2026 Charleston County Hurricane Guide
Community Information Line (Spanish)	(843) 746-3909	Same activation rule as above

Social accounts: The county website and hurricane guide point residents to official county channels, but a stable, labeled list of Emergency Management social URLs was not confirmed on the official pages opened on 10 November 2026. Follow the official accounts linked from Charleston County Emergency Management and the current hurricane guide, rather than a guessed handle.

Alert system name: CHSAlerts (formerly Citizen Alerts). It is Charleston County’s subscriber-based mass-notification system. Notifications may arrive by text message, phone call, or email, and can cover severe weather and emergency conditions, evacuation orders and protective actions, major road closures, public safety incidents, and other events affecting Charleston County communities. Source: county news release, 3 September 2026 (PDF). Life-threatening Wireless Emergency Alerts can still reach phones without this sign-up.

How to opt in to CHSAlerts text messages

No official “text KEYWORD to a shortcode” option was published on the official pages opened this turn. Sign up on the web:

Open the official registration page: https://member.everbridge.net/453003085611698/ov. That is the “Click here to sign up” link in the 3 September 2026 county news release and the link used on the City of Charleston Alerts and Notifications page.
Start a new registration (or sign in if you already have an account).
Enter the address you want covered (home, and a workplace or second location if you spend a lot of time there).
Add your mobile number and select text / SMS as a delivery method. Official materials also allow phone calls and email; add those if you want them.
Choose the alert types offered on the form. County materials describe coverage of severe weather, evacuations, major road closures, public safety incidents, and other county emergencies.
Save or confirm the registration, and add new phones when a household member gets a new number.

App options: There is no separate official “CHSAlerts app” named on the pages opened this turn. Use the web sign-up above, plus the SC Emergency Manager app and WEA on your phone.

Evacuation zones: Look up the address on Know Your Zone. Charleston County’s 2026 guide uses Zones A, B, and C (summaries are in the 2026 Charleston County Hurricane Guide). Do not guess from a neighbor’s sign or an older printed map.

Zone A: Areas in and around Edisto Island; the immediate coast including Seabrook Island, Kiawah Island, Folly Beach, Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms, and Dewees Island; and areas east of U.S. 17 south to Buck Hall Recreation Area.
Zone B: Areas north of Mount Pleasant between Zone A and U.S. 17; Mount Pleasant, James Island, and Johns Island; and the southern part of the Charleston Peninsula up to Shipyard Creek.
Zone C: Areas between Highway 17 and the Charleston County line; areas north of Zone B along the I-26 corridor to the county line; and areas in and around West Ashley, and behind Edisto, Johns, and James Islands to the county line.

Shelters: Charleston County shelter page. On 10 November 2026 the page stated that no shelters were available at that time. Shelters open only when officials announce them.

Sandbags and debris: No standing, year-round sandbag-distribution schedule was published on the county EM pages opened this turn. Watch official announcements when a storm approaches. After a storm, follow official debris-separation and set-out rules when they are issued; do not block roads, hydrants, or utility equipment.

Medical-equipment power shelters: The 2026 Hurricane Guide lists 833-351-9990, which is the statewide DPH Triage Line described above. Confirm on the current guide or with Emergency Management before you depend on it.

CERT: Charleston County Emergency Management offers Community Emergency Response Team Basic and instructor classes (typically two of each per year). The county CERT contact listed by SCEMD is Todd Shippy, tshippy@charlestoncounty.org; the department phone is (843) 746-3800.

Flood maps and permits: For unincorporated Charleston County and the municipalities the county serves, Building Inspection Services — Floodplain Management can provide a flood-zone determination. Phone (843) 202-6930, or email FloodServices@CharlestonCounty.org. Official Flood Insurance Rate Maps are also at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. New and substantially improved residential structures in the county’s mapped flood zones must be elevated at least two feet above the base flood elevation, per the county’s floodplain FAQ. In incorporated areas the county does not serve, contact that municipality. Do not dump trash or landscape debris into drainage ditches; in unincorporated Charleston County, report obstructions to Public Works at (843) 202-7600.

Pets: The City of Charleston Pet Preparedness page (drawing on SCEMD guidance) says most emergency shelters will not accept pets other than service animals, and that you should arrange a hotel, friend, or boarding option in advance. Some counties may plan temporary animal shelters as a last resort; call Emergency Management for the current policy when a storm is approaching.

Berkeley County

Emergency Management website: berkeleycountysc.gov/dept/epd

Address: 1003 Highway 52, Moncks Corner, SC 29461 (mailing: PO Box 6122, Moncks Corner, SC 29461). Office hours listed as 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday–Friday.

Line	Number	When to use it
Life-threatening emergency	911	Always, for a life-threatening emergency
Emergency Management (non-emergency)	(843) 719-4166	The Contact Us number on the EM department page and in the Berkeley County Hurricane Guide
Additional telephone listed on the EM page	(843) 719-4234	Appears as “Tel” on the same official EM pages; the site does not further label it
Fax	(843) 719-4111	Listed on the EM department page
Citizen Call Line	(843) 719-4800	A non-emergency information line the county may activate during a storm (utility providers, sandbag sites, and other storm details). The hurricane guide states it is not always available. For emergencies, call 911.

Social accounts: Official county news tells residents to follow Berkeley County Government on Facebook and berkeleycountysc.gov. A specific Facebook URL was not labeled on the EM pages opened this turn; use the link from the county website.

Official alerts: Enable Wireless Emergency Alerts on your phone, and follow Berkeley County Emergency Management. For general county news and email alerts, use the OneBerkeley Portal and monitor berkeleycountysc.gov. Also consider the SC Emergency Manager app. No official text-to-shortcode option is published.

Evacuation zones: Look up the address on Know Your Zone. Berkeley County uses different zone letters than Charleston County (the 2026 state plan annex describes parts of Berkeley with letters such as B, D, E, and F). A Charleston County letter will not automatically apply across the line.

Shelters: The county hurricane guide and official news announce shelter openings storm by storm, and mention texting SHELTER plus a ZIP code to 43362. Monitor berkeleycountysc.gov and official alerts rather than assuming a past location is open.

Sandbags: Berkeley County has announced self-serve sandbag or sand-and-bag sites during storms, typically first-come, first-served; residents are told to bring a shovel and fill their own bags. Locations change. Check official news and the Hurricane Guide (including sandbag use and disposal) when a storm approaches. Do not treat any past site list as permanently open.

Debris: Follow official curbside-separation rules when they are issued after a storm. The Hurricane Guide asks residents to separate debris using the acronym C.H.E.A.T. (construction debris, hazardous waste, electronics, appliances, and trees/vegetation), to place piles curbside within 10 feet of the road and between the street and the sidewalk, and not to pile debris on the road, on the sidewalk, or against trees, meters, poles, or power lines. Regular household garbage stays in its normal container. Confirm current set-out instructions with the county before you pile materials at the curb.

CERT: Berkeley County Emergency Management’s primary volunteer support organization is its Community Emergency Response Team, with free training. The Hurricane Guide says to contact (843) 719-4166 if you want to join. SCEMD’s CERT list names Tori Renshaw, Victoria.renshaw@berkeleycountysc.gov.

Flood maps and permits: Berkeley County Floodplain Management can help you identify flood zones and permit needs. Phone (843) 719-4266. Apply for a permit at 1003 Highway 52, Moncks Corner, before you build, alter a structure, or place fill. The county states a flood-mitigation freeboard requirement of 2 feet and uses ICC 2021 code editions. Official maps are also at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, and the county GIS portal can show flood zones and surge layers.

Pets: The Hurricane Guide says to take animals with you, keep immunization records and a carrier, and plan a pet-friendly hotel, friend, or other place in advance. Some emergency shelters may not allow pets. If you and your pet are separated, the guide lists Berkeley Animal Shelter at (843) 719-5050. For missing livestock, it lists the South Carolina Department of Agriculture at 803-732-2210.

Dorchester County

Emergency Management website: dorchestercountysc.gov/government/public-safety/emergency-management

Address: Dorchester County Emergency Operations & Consolidated Dispatch Center, 212 Deming Way, Summerville, SC 29483. Office hours listed as 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday–Friday, excluding holidays.

Line	Number	When to use it
Life-threatening emergency	911	Always, for a life-threatening emergency
Emergency Management (non-emergency office)	(843) 832-0341	The department “Phone” number on the official EM page (also the office-manager line)
Director of Emergency Management	(843) 832-0342	Listed on the EM staff list
Fax	(843) 832-0343	Listed on the EM page
Storm call center (when announced)	(843) 832-0393	Used in official storm updates when a temporary call center is open; it is not a year-round EM line. Confirm in the current announcement.
A general county number on some pages	(843) 563-0100	Appears in the site footer of some Dorchester pages; it is not labeled as the Emergency Management line

Social accounts: Official storm pages tell residents to follow Dorchester County on Facebook (and, in some updates, Twitter) and to visit DorchesterCountySC.gov. Specific profile URLs were not labeled on the EM pages opened this turn; use the links from the county website.

Alert system name: Dorchester County Emergency Alerts, through Smart911. The registration page is titled “Dorchester County SC Emergency Alerts.” (The live hurricanes preparedness page says “Sign Up for Emergency Alerts.”)

How to opt in to Dorchester text alerts

No official shortcode (text-a-keyword) option was published on the official pages opened this turn.

Open https://www.smart911.com/smart911/ref/reg.action?pa=dorchestercountysc. This is the official Dorchester registration page and the link used on the City of Charleston Alerts page.
Create an account (the form asks for a password that meets the rules shown on the page) or sign in.
Add the places you want covered and the ways you want to be reached. The official page says you can receive messages at home, mobile, or business phones, by email, by text message, and more: “You pick where, you pick how.”
To get text alerts, include your mobile number and select text/SMS among the delivery methods offered on the form.
The same official page describes alerts for severe weather, unexpected road closures, missing persons, and evacuations of buildings or neighborhoods. Tick the alert types the form offers.

App options: Smart911 is a web registration. No separate official Dorchester EM app was named on the pages opened this turn. Also download the SC Emergency Manager app.

Evacuation zones: Look up the address on Know Your Zone. Dorchester County uses different zone letters than Charleston County (the 2026 state plan annex describes parts of Dorchester with letters such as D, E, and F).

Shelters: Openings are announced in official county news. Past openings (for example a school used as a shelter during a flood) are not a standing list. Check the county website and alerts, and the SHELTER-to-43362 option described above.

Sandbags: Dorchester County has opened temporary, first-come, first-served “fill it yourself” sites during storms, often with a limit (official updates have used a limit of 10 bags per household or business) and a request that residents bring a shovel. Locations and hours are announced for each event. They are not a year-round service. See official news such as the county’s storm information pages.

Debris: Official after-storm guidance on the Hurricanes and Tropical Storms page is to watch for debris and downed power lines and to follow instructions on the county site and in alerts. No standing, detailed debris-set-out schedule was confirmed as a permanent page this turn. A separate Dorchester County hurricane-guide PDF was not found on the official site; the county’s preparedness guidance is on that hurricanes page.

CERT: Dorchester County Emergency Management offers a Community Emergency Response Team course at the Emergency Operations Center, 212 Deming Way, Building 1, Summerville. Participants must generally be 18 or older (ages 14+ may be allowed with a parent or guardian). SCEMD’s CERT list names David Amann, damann@dorchestercountysc.gov.

Flood maps and permits: Dorchester County’s Floodplain Management Program will, on request, tell you whether a property is in a Special Flood Hazard Area and can provide FIRM zone and base-flood elevation data. The Flood Zones page notes that flood zones and evacuation zones are different, and points residents to a floodplain manager in Building Services. Residential structures or substantial improvements must have the finished floor at least two feet above the base flood elevation. Official maps are also at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. A separately labeled floodplain-office phone number was not published on those pages (some site footers show a general county number, (843) 563-0100, that is not labeled as the floodplain line).

Pets: See the county’s Prepare Your Pet page: take animals with you when you can, and plan a pet-friendly hotel, friend, or boarding option, because many emergency shelters cannot accept pets. The county has announced pet-friendly shelters in some past events; those openings are not a standing list. The same page lists the South Carolina Department of Agriculture at 803-734-2200 (a different number than the one printed in the Berkeley County Hurricane Guide; use the contact on the page that applies to you, or the number on agriculture.sc.gov if they disagree).

Generators: The county’s hurricane preparedness page tells residents to keep generators and other alternate power or heat sources outside, at least 20 feet from windows and doors, protected from moisture, and never to power house wiring by plugging a generator into a wall outlet.

Electric utilities

Report outages to your provider. Check a recent bill if you are unsure. Official sources opened on 10 November 2026:

Utility	How to report an outage	Source opened this turn
Dominion Energy South Carolina	App or website, or call 888-333-4465. The same number is for downed or sparking lines. Stay at least 30 feet from downed equipment. Gas leak: 800-815-0083. Customer service / White Cross medical-equipment notifications: 800-251-7234.	Outage Restoration and FAQs, Report an outage
Berkeley Electric Cooperative	Call 1-855-938-3615, or report in SmartHub (website or app). Member services: 1-800-327-9615.	The co-op’s own Outage Center and Contact pages, 10 November 2026. Some older lists, including the 2026 Charleston County Hurricane Guide and SCEMD’s outage list, still show 1-888-253-4232. Use the number on the co-op’s current outage page or on your bill.
Edisto Electric Cooperative	Call 1-800-433-3292.	Edisto Electric services/programs and SCEMD’s outage list
Santee Cooper	Report online via the Storm Center, or call 888-769-7688.	Santee Cooper Storm Center & Power Outages and SCEMD’s list

A statewide directory is also on SCEMD: Report Power Outages.

Water utilities

Use the number on a recent bill if it differs. Official sources opened on 10 November 2026:

Utility	How to report a water or sewer emergency	Source opened this turn
Charleston Water System	Call (843) 727-6800. Customer service is listed Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.; the contact page states that emergency service is available after business hours. The same number is given for sewer overflows and backups.	Contact Us, Water Emergencies, Sewer Emergencies
Berkeley County Water & Sanitation	For an emergency, do not use the website form; call (843) 572-4400. Other listed customer-service numbers include Moncks Corner (843) 761-8817 and St. Stephen (843) 567-3597.	BCWS Contact Us
Dorchester County Water & Sewer	Customer service (843) 832-0075 and/or (843) 563-0075. For emergencies and work not covered by the online forms, the service-requests page says to call (843) 832-0075. After hours, weekends, and holidays, calls are directed to an answering service that notifies Water & Sewer personnel.	Service Requests
Summerville CPW (Town of Summerville Commissioners of Public Works)	Call (843) 871-0810. The contact page states that this number is monitored 24 hours a day; during business hours, choose option 2 for a water or sewer emergency. After hours, call the same number to report problems or emergencies. Boil-water advisories and what to do during one are explained on the utility’s Boil Water Advisory page.	Contact Us, Boil Water Advisory
Mount Pleasant Waterworks	Do not report emergencies by email or online form. Call the 24-hour Emergency Service line at (843) 884-9626. The contact page states that emergency dispatchers are available 24/7.	Contact Us
City of Goose Creek (city water customers)	Report water problems at (843) 824-2200. The city’s Water Billing and Collection page notes that some residents receive water from Charleston Water System and should call (843) 727-6800.	Water Billing and Collection

If your water comes from another provider (for example Moncks Corner Water Works, which lists (843) 719-7965 as its contact number, or a private well), use that utility’s number — the Moncks Corner site does not clearly label that number as a 24-hour emergency line. Follow any official boil-water advisory even if the tap looks clear. After a flood, wait for the utility’s guidance before drinking from the tap again. See Water.

Evacuation routes

SCEMD publishes planned routing on hurricane.sc/evacuate. Those patterns are planning descriptions only. When an evacuation is underway, follow law enforcement, official traffic-control devices, SC 511, and county and SCEMD alerts. Never drive around barricades, and never drive through floodwater. Ready.gov warns that just six inches of moving water can knock a person down, and one foot of moving water can sweep a vehicle away.

Weather details that matter here

NWS Charleston issues coastal flood, flash flood, tropical, and severe-weather products for this area:

Tropical storm watch / warning: sustained winds of 39–73 mph possible or expected over land.
Hurricane watch / warning: sustained winds of 74 mph or more possible or expected over land.
Storm surge watch: life-threatening inundation possible, generally within 48 hours.
Storm surge warning: life-threatening inundation expected, generally within 36 hours (sometimes earlier if tropical-storm-force winds will cut off the time you have to leave).
Coastal flood products at this office are tied in part to the Charleston Harbor tide gage. As of the office’s published product criteria, an advisory range starts around 7.0 feet MLLW, and watch/warning criteria at 8.0 feet MLLW at Charleston Harbor (tidal Berkeley and the Georgia coast use different numbers). These are office criteria, not a do-it-yourself forecast. Always read the actual product on weather.gov/chs.

Other numbers worth keeping on paper

Need	How to reach it
Non-emergency community services	211, or sc211.org
Poison Control	1-800-222-1222, poison.org
FEMA disaster assistance (only after a federal declaration)	DisasterAssistance.gov, 1-800-621-3362
Flood maps	msc.fema.gov
Flood insurance information	floodsmart.gov
Trident United Way / Charleston County VOAD	tuw.org/VOAD. The coalition is named Charleston County VOAD; its official page says it unites partners across the Tri-County region. A separately named Berkeley County or Dorchester County VOAD page was not found. For household referrals, use 211.

Add your doctor, pharmacy, insurer, veterinarian, and school numbers to the family plan.