When was hugo

Many weather experts believe Bulls Bay, just north of Mount Pleasant, was the site of the highest storm surge at 20 feet based on the debris marks found after the storm. In nearby Awendaw, a section of Highway 17 that goes across Awendaw Creek was destroyed. The Isle of Palms fishing pier was wiped out by an foot storm surge, as were a number of beachfront homes. The Ben Sawyer Bridge was damaged and was seen in photos after the storm with one end tipped into the water.

In Wild Dunes, the golf course suffered damage due to erosion. The islands were placed under martial law by then-Gov. Carroll Campbell. News reports after the storm show clashes between homeowners trying to get back onto the islands and police stopping them. Sea levels were 13 feet above normal on Sullivan's Island, and a number of older homes were destroyed.

The small fishing town dealt with some of the worst damage in Hugo as fishing boats were carried by the storm surge over the highway and dumped inland. The hurricane-force winds and storm surge damaged or destroyed most buildings. Officials marked Lincoln High School as an emergency shelter in the storm, trusting elevation maps that marked the school's land as 20 feet above sea level.

However, the school is only 10 feet above sea level, and the foot storm surge washed through the school with 6 feet of debris-laden water, sending evacuees scrambling for safety. Patron Feedback Form. He later realized it was the right call.

Many still remember the stern warning of retired bond court judge Linda Lombard, who at the time of Hugo was a Charleston County Council member. The night before Hugo made landfall, then-Gov. Carroll Campbell had not yet declared a state of emergency, Lombard recalled. On the famous phrase so many still remember, Lombard said the goal was clear. Charleston Mayor Joe Riley realized he was dealing with people who had not experienced a major hurricane in decades.

He worried about the effects of a storm surge on the peninsula and the barrier islands, which he knew could be catastrophic. To send a message, Riley ordered city hall be boarded up days before the storm. He also asked gulf coast mayors for advice they never got when they went through the same thing. It was a dire prediction that would be proved true in the hours to come. When the storm made landfall shortly after midnight, wind gusts as high as mph were measured in the city of Charleston, with mph at Folly Beach, the National Weather Service reported.

Because of its rapid motion and large size, hurricane-force winds were able to reach inland areas that almost never see such severe conditions. Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter recorded a wind gust of mph as the eye of Hugo brushed by just to the south.

The National Weather Service compiled damage information from across the region. Approximately three-quarters of the trees in the ,acre Frances Marion National Forest were blown down. On Folly Beach, the combination of a storm surge of 12 feet and high waves destroyed virtually all single family homes on the ocean front. The storm forced , people to evacuate from their homes in eight counties. Shelters were packed with more than 90, throughout the storm and its immediate aftermath. The storm temporarily put , out of work and left more than 60, homeless.

Hugo was blamed for 27 deaths in South Carolina. Hugo produced tremendous wind and storm surge damage along the coast and even produced hurricane force wind gusts several hundred miles inland into western North Carolina.

In fact, Hugo produced the highest storm tide heights ever recorded along the U. At the time, Hugo was the strongest storm to strike the U. It is estimated that there were 49 deaths directly related to the storm, 26 of which occurred in the U. Virgin Islands. For additional information, check out our Hurricane Hugo Event Review.

Please Contact Us. Please try another search. Multiple locations were found. Please select one of the following:. The ability of shelters in Puerto Rico to accommodate displaced persons throughout various emergency situations must be assessed. Particularly important are the structural soundness and flooding potential of buildings designated as shelters, especially schools.

Beaches along the coasts of Puerto Rico and the U. Virgin Islands are decreasing in size because of erosion from storms such as Hugo and also because of rises in sea level. Seawalls generally have led to accelerated shoreline erosion rather than preservation, and beaches in front of walls have largely disappeared. Action must be taken to save recreational beaches. Buildings must be moved back, or beach-replenishment programs must be established.

Proper setback of coastal buildings and developments is the most practical and economical measure that can be taken to preserve beaches. After passage through the Caribbean, Hurricane Hugo weakened from a category 4 storm to a category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. As Hugo continued to move northwest toward the U. Hugo's peak-measured wind gust in South Carolina of knots mph was recorded by the m ft anemometer at the North Charleston Navy Yard minutes before Hugo made landfall.

After landfall, a maximum sustained surface-wind speed of 76 knots 87 mph was measured at the Charleston Customs House. In the Bulls Bay area northeast of Charleston, where the storm surge exceeded 20 ft, the sustained surface-wind speed was estimated to be knots mph , based on a reconstruction of the surface windfield after landfall.

Three hours after landfall, Hugo's maximum wind speeds were below hurricane force in the vicinity of Columbia and Sumter, South Carolina. Hugo reached Charlotte, North Carolina, 6 hours after landfall with tropical storm force winds of 47 knots 54 mph at the surface accompanied by gusts up to 76 knots 87 mph.

Ground and air surveys and meteorological reports indicate that no tornadoes were generated during Hurricane Hugo. However, Hugo maintained a rapid northward motion after coming onto the mainland and caused extensive damage from South Carolina to well beyond Charlotte, North Carolina, over miles inland.

On Wednesday, September 18, as Hugo headed for the mainland, a hurricane watch was issued for the region from St. Thursday morning, the watch remained in effect, with a 30 percent probability that Hugo would hit Charleston. The governor of South Carolina ordered the evacuation of barrier islands, beaches, and peninsulas on September 19, and Charleston County officials ordered the evacuation of Charleston residents on the same day.

Most evacuation plans assumed Hugo would hit the mainland as a category 3 storm. However, as Hugo came closer to the coast, it intensified and eventually made landfall as a category 4 storm.

Because of this sudden increase in intensity, evacuees in at least one Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, shelter had to be relocated farther inland. Few evacuees went to public shelters. More people went to motels than shelters, and the majority of the evacuees went to the homes of family or friends.

Shelter use was most prevalent among low-income households. Overall, the evacuation process proceeded as smoothly as anticipated. In some areas, such as Beaufort and Charleston, residents were discouraged from using public shelters because of concern over the number of people the shelters in these areas were equipped to handle. Before and during Hugo, South Carolina coastal officials relied heavily on the Charleston office of the NWS for advice and input regarding emergency decisions.

Surge-inundation maps generated by the SLOSH model were used extensively and were valid in most locations.

Shoreline erosion from Hurricane Hugo's storm surge was experienced along much of South Carolina's low-lying coastal area and barrier islands. The tide gage at Charleston recorded a maximum surge of Fortunately, the highest storm surge 20 ft occurred to the north of the storm path, in the largely undeveloped Bulls Bay area. Outer barrier islands generally have lower elevations, averaging around 5 feet, so most of the barrier surface was totally under water during the height of the storm surge.

At Pawleys Island, damage was catastrophic where a temporary inlet was cut through the barrier. In the ft storm surge, houses were floated from Pawleys Island across the marsh and onto the mainland.

Beaches suffered intense erosion, particularly on the barrier islands. Areas with wide beaches and dunes were more protected from Hugo' s impact, since the beaches acted as buffer zones against Hugo's high winds and storm surge.

Narrow beaches with a history of erosion, such as Folly Beach, were most heavily affected by Hugo. Coastal developments in locations with little beach suffered severe damage, despite efforts by residents to fortify the coastline with large stones and concrete rubble piled along the shore as a makeshift revetment. In South Carolina 27 deaths were attributed to Hurricane Hugo, about half of which occurred during the storm. The 14 deaths not occurring during the storm itself were primarily from cleanup accidents and open flames being used for light.

Hugo inflicted severe water damage on coastal structures. Along the coastline, most of the well-engineered and well-built structures sustained very little damage. In contrast, appurtenant structures such as decks, access ladders, and ramps significantly contributed to the damage, since most were not built to resist water forces.

Elevation was the main prerequisite for structures to escape severe water damage in the coastal zone. Deep piles, at least 9 inches in diameter, were the only type of foundation to perform well consistently. Scouring behind seawalls due to overtopping was common, and most piers sustained severe damage or were totally destroyed. Jetties and groins suffered little damage during the storm. Wind damage occurred both inland and along the coast.

Foundation failures due to wind were common, particularly in flood-prone coastal areas where structures were elevated on unreinforced masonry piers. Where the fastest-mile wind speed exceeded 74 knots 85 mph , major structural damage, including loss of roof structure, collapse of single-story masonry buildings, and complete destruction of mobile homes, occurred along with extensive damage to wood-framed construction and preengineered metal buildings.

Wind damage varied according to the amount of exposure, with sheltered areas receiving little or no damage and exposed areas suffering heavy losses. Falling trees caused the majority of the damage in inland areas. The most critical lifeline damaged by Hurricane Hugo in the Carolinas was the electrical power supply system. Between 1 million and 1. Damage to the electric power system adversely affected the operation of other important lifelines, such as transportation and communications systems and water and wastewater facilities.

Hugo interfered with transportation in the Carolinas, but caused only minor structural damage to mainland roads and bridges. Traffic was impeded by debris blocking the roadways and by destruction of traffic signals and signs. On the barrier islands, some roadways were completely washed out. In addition, the failure of the Ben Sawyer Bridge, which provides access to Sullivans Island and the Isle of Palms, severely hampered the recovery effort on those islands.

The Charleston. Telephone systems performed well during and after Hugo, primarily because 80 percent of the lines are underground. Radio and television service was disrupted at both the transmitting and receiving ends by loss of power. Several transmitting towers were also downed by Hugo.

Water and wastewater systems were affected primarily by loss of off-site power. Remote lift stations in the wastewater system were without power for extended periods, and some isolated cases of sewage overflow occurred before portable generators were installed.