Residents continue to moveout of Dockside Condominiums as evacuation deadline hits

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD)–On Wednesday, residents of the Dockside Condominiums received notice of a mandatory evacuation due to structural issues within the building. On Thursday, a day later residents of adjacent townhomes were told that they would also need to evacuate leaving them with little time to plan.

“I’m a bit stressed now because I have to go to class and get back in time for the 5 o’clock time dates or timestamps. It’s spring break next week, so I was already packing, but now I have to pack extra stuff just in case,” said Ethan Wahdan, a resident at the condo.

Officials cited concrete slabs that they described as “significantly overstressed” and “the structure has insufficient capacity to continue to be safely occupied until substantial structural strengthening is implemented.” Despite the concerns many expressed frustration with how the situation was handled. 

 “There are people that don’t have anyone to go to or anywhere to go to they don’t have anybody, and I just find it unacceptable that they would give us 48 hours to get out of here,” said Karen Pulson, a resident at the condo.

The building was constructed in the 1970’s and has had issues in the past. In 2023 News 2 told you about concerns regarding the building’s ability to withstand an emergency such as a fire with a significant number of first responders on scene. An engineering firm assessed the building and found issues with columns but after repair work was done, the building was deemed safe.

The Dockside Board of Directors and the city of Charleston have been working together to ensure resident safety during the evacuation process and some residents told us despite the frustrations they’re thankful for officials putting safety first.

“I think the management of this specific facility has done a really good job getting everyone out and facilitating. I know it’s been very short notice, and it didn’t seem like there was a lot that they could do about it, so yeah, I do really appreciate the managers,” said Brad Hinchberger, a resident at Dockside Condominiums.

It is unclear when the residents will be allowed back in their homes, but officials tell us they’re working to keep lines of communication open.