Hurricane Hugo: 20th year anniversary

[krazeeboi]

One of the most devastating hurricanes to hit the U.S. made landfall 20 years ago today near Charleston: Hurricane Hugo. Where were you when the storm hit? What damage was done in your town/city? Is the state prepared for another monster of a storm, whenever one hits again?

[vicupstate]

I was in Columbia, where I had lived for just over one year. I went to sleep the night it was expected to hit thinking that the power would be off when i woke up and that I might be awakened by the turbulance.

The next morning I woke up, the power was still on and their were only a few limbs down around my apartment. I thought "hmm, must have been much ado about nothing". Then I turned on the TV and saw the footage from Charleston, and the Coast. Sumter had got the brunt of what Columbia was thought to be expecting. Charlotte got hit hard too.

Over the next few days, Gov. Campbell and Mayor Riley really showed how effective and competent they really were. Just imagine the opposite of Kathleen Blanco and Ray Nagin. To this day, I still consider them the best elected officials our state has produced in modern times, if not ever. That is in no small part to there actions during Hugo.

Campbell must be spinning is his grave, with Sanfraud effin' up everything he spent his whole life working for.

[CorgiMatt]

I was living alone in a one-bedroom garage apartment behind a business on Millwood Avenue here in Columbia. The rain was coming down so hard and the wind blowing against the living room so hard that the rain ended up coming up over the window sill, down the inside wall and across the living room floor. Just outside the bedroom window was a transformer on a telephone pole, and the wind was blowing it so hard it was making a horrible loud moaning sound, and the lights kept dimming. I don't remember whether I lost power, but by the next morning several oak trees in the area had been uprooted.

[waccamatt]

I was living in an old house in Cottontown. We lost power for a few hours and had some limbs down, but my office in West Columbia lost its roof and water and mud were all over the inside of the building. The front plate glass window blew in, as well.

[Galley]

I was at work in Greenville. Hugo was headed straight for us, but turned north at Columbia. For us, it was merely a severe storm. I was in the SC Air National Guard at the time and was supposed to be in Eastover that weekend, but don't recall why I wasn't. The only effect Hugo had on me personally was several downed trees blocking my route home, but one of my fellow Guardsmen wasn't so lucky. He lost his home, his car, and his job. He lived in Conway.

[teshadoh]

I lived with my parents then in Rock Hill - despite being on the side of the house that was directly adjacent to a lot (about 20 yards away) that experienced a micro-burst - I slept through the entire storm. The lot next door was nearly cleared completely of all the pine trees in it. Our yard was fully littered with tree branches & trees, it took a few days to clear them all & stack up all along the road so the county could take them. The roads weren't cleared off for another day, & of course it would take a few weeks until power was restored. I remember dad driving someplace to get water & ice. School resumed a week later & life gradually became normal by October.